Thermoelectric response from grain boundaries and lattice distortions in crystalline gold devices
Abstract
Scanning photothermoelectric measurements, using a laser spot as a moveable heat source, have revealed local information about thermoelectric response in various materials. This work applies this to examine surprising thermoelectric variation in nominally simple single crystals of gold as well as individual grain boundaries between crystals. Abrupt grain boundaries have little effect on thermoelectric response. Instead, the Seebeck response correlates with crystallographic defects and strain associated with misorientation within the single crystals, detected via electron backscatter diffraction. Annealing reduces these thermoelectric signatures, presumably via relaxation of lattice distortions. These measurements show that minor structural defects in otherwise single-crystalline materials can have readily detectable thermoelectric consequences, a result with implications for many devices and material systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 08, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.2002284117
Entities
People
- Charlotte I. Evans
- Douglas Natelson
- Jonathan A. Fan
- Lucia T Gan
- Mahdiyeh Abbasi
- Rachel Traylor
- Rui Yang
- Xifan Wang
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- National Science Foundation
- Rice University
- Robert A. Welch Foundation
- Stanford University