Thermal, electron transport and far infrared properties of PbTe single crystals doped with Br

Abstract

Understanding the properties of PbTe remains in focus as enhancement of thermoelectric efficiency of this material is studied extensively. In this work single crystals of PbTe, doped with less than 2 at % Br, were synthesized using the Bridgmann technique and their thermal, electron transport and far infrared properties were studied. Thermal diffusivity was determined using the photoacoustic method with a transmission detection configuration. Electron transport was determined by Seebeck coefficient measurements. IR reflectivity measurements showed that reflectivity in the region of plasma resonance was low. Measured reflectivity diagrams were numerically analyzed-enabling calculation of the carrier concentration and mobility-and compared with the values obtained by Hall measurements. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.