Studies on sintering effect on the transport properties ofPb1−xSmxSe

Pb 1− x Sm x Se ( x =0.03, 0.06 and 0.09) compounds are synthesized by solid-state reaction. The x-ray diffraction technique, scanning electron microscope, electrical and thermoelectric power measurements were used to characterize the prepared samples. The samples are sintered at 488 K and the effect of the sintering time on the transport properties was investigated. The metal–insulator transition occurrence depends on both the Sm content and the sintering time. The energy band gap E g was calculated for the sintered samples of 0.06 Sm composition in the intrinsic region. The Seebeck coefficient measurements show that all the samples under investigation are n -type semiconductor materials with electron carrier predomination at low temperature and hole conduction contribution at high temperature. The power factor S 2 σ was calculated and gave a good indication of the wide application of the investigated compositions as thermoelectric materials.