In-Situ Measurement of Electrical Character of PbTe at High Pressure and High Temperature

There is a widespread interest in lead telluride (PbTe) as a good thermoelectric material. We report the temperature dependence of thermopower S ( T ) and resistance R ( T ) for PbTe at the different pressures of from 1.8 GPa to 5 GPa obtained by using the cubic anvil high pressure apparatus. With increasing pressure, R ( T ) and S ( T ) decrease. The effect of pressure on R ( T ) is larger than that on S ( T ). The power factor that is determined by thermopower and resistivity increases with increasing pressure. This method is an efficient tool for synthesizing good thermoelectric materials at high pressure and high temperature.