Thermoelectric properties of InxGa1-xN alloys

Thermoelectric (TE) properties of InxGa1-xN alloys grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition have been investigated. It was found that as indium concentration increases, the thermal conductivity decreases and power factor increases, which leads to an increase in the TE figure of merit (ZT). The value of ZT was found to be 0.08 at 300 K and reached 0.23 at 450 K for In0.36Ga0.64N alloy, which is comparable to those of SiGe based alloys. The results indicate that InGaN alloys could be potentially important TE materials for many applications, especially for prolonged TE device operation at high temperatures, such as for recovery of waste heat from automobile, aircrafts, and power plants due to their superior physical properties, including the ability of operating at high temperature/high power conditions, high mechanical strength and stability, and radiation hardness. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.