Thermoelectric properties of heavily boron- and phosphorus-doped silicon

In recent years, nanostructured thermoelectric materials have attracted much attention. However, despite this increasing attention, available information on the thermoelectric properties of single-crystal Si is quite limited, especially for high doping concentrations at high temperatures. In this study, the thermoelectric properties of heavily doped (10 18 –10 20 cm −3 ) n- and p-type single-crystal Si were studied from room temperature to above 1000 K. The figures of merit, ZT , were calculated from the measured data of electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity. The maximum ZT values were 0.015 for n-type and 0.008 for p-type Si at room temperature. To better understand the carrier and phonon transport and to predict the thermoelectric properties of Si, we have developed a simple theoretical model based on the Boltzmann transport equation with the relaxation-time approximation.