The preparation of SiGe thermoelectric materials by mechanical alloying

The preparation of SiGe thermoelectric materials by mechanical alloying was studied. This technique has the advantage of producing homogeneous, fine-grained alloys at room temperature. Optical metallography and electronic microscopy have indicated that the average particle/grain size of the alloys produced is considerably less than 1 μm. X-ray diffraction measurements have verified alloy formation in these materials. Electrical resistivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal diffusivity have been measured on several hot pressed compacts and the results are compared with conventional state-of-the-art SiGe alloys. Of four preliminary samples studied, a maximum figure-of-merit of 0.88×10^-3 C^-1 at 900°C was found