Effect of pressure on electronic and thermoelectric properties of magnesium silicide: A density functional theory study

We study the effect of pressure on electronic and thermoelectric properties of Mg₂}Si using the density functional theory and Boltzmann transport equations. The variation of lattice constant, band gap, bulk modulus with pressure is also analyzed. Further, the thermoelectric properties (Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, electronic thermal conductivity) have been studied as a function of temperature and pressure up to 1200 K. The results show that Mg₂Si is an n-type semiconductor with a band gap of 0.21 eV. The negative value of the Seebeck coefficient at all pressures indicates that the conduction is due to electrons. With the increase in pressure, the Seebeck coefficient decreases and electrical conductivity increases. It is also seen that, there is practically no effect of pressure on the electronic contribution of thermal conductivity. The paper describes the calculation of the lattice thermal conductivity and figure of merit of Mg₂}Si at zero pressure. The maximum value of figure of merit is attained 1.83×10^-3 at 1000 K. The obtained results are in good agreement with the available experimental and theoretical results.