Influence of Band Structure Parameters on the Thermoelectric Properties of Semiconductor Thermoelectric Materials

Many semiconductors have complex structure of conduction or valence band. The thermoelectric parameters of such semiconductors depend on the energy positions of bands and their effective masses. In the present work the thermoelectric parameters of materials with complex band structure have been theoretically investigated. Their dependencies on band structure parameters have been studied in order to find the optimal combination of parameters maximizing the thermoelectric efficiency. The results obtained have been illustrated applying to Mg ₂Si-Mg₂Sn solid solutions and other materials for which the high thermoelectric figure of merit is connected with the presence of two conduction bands