Pathways to experimental determination of charge-carrier transport

Abstract

The advancement of thermoelectric materials for increased efficiency of radioisotope thermoelectric generators is contingent on understanding the connection between chemical modifications to carrier physics. Historically, this gap is bridged by synthetic trials and the measurement of the three traditional thermoelectric transport phenomena: the Seebeck effect, conductivity, and the Hall effect. However, as we continue to make complex materials, we must challenge the analysis techniques we use to probe the carrier physics. In this work, we address two core challenges that face the thermoelectrics community: How do we determine what materials to investigate and how do we robustly analyze transport data to prescribe causal relationships to chemical alterations? We tackle these problems through a combination of experimental thermoelectric material synthesis, robust investigations of the limitations of various analysis techniques, and the derivation of magneto-transport phenomena to increase accessibility to the community.