Effect of constant-energy surface anisotropy on the thermoelectric figure-of-merit of the n-Bi2 (Te,Se,S)3 solid solutions

A study is reported of the thermoelectric and galvanomagnetic properties of n-Bi₂Te_3−x−y Se_xSe_y solid solutions for 0.12⩽x⩽0.36 and 0.12⩽y⩽0.21 within the 80–300 K temperature region. The thermoelectric figure-of-merit Z has been found to correlate with the parameters of the many-valley energy-band model including anisotropic carrier scattering. It is shown that a decrease in the constant-energy surface anisotropy and scattering anisotropy results in a growth of Z for optimum carrier concentrations in the solid solution. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 187–192 (February 1999)