Optimization of Seebeck coefficients of strain-symmetrized semiconductor heterostructures
Vitaly S. Proshchenko, Manoj Settipalli, and Sanghamitra Neogi, Appl. Phys. Lett., 115(21), 211602 (2019)
First principles study of the charge transport properties of multilayered seminconductor heterostructures with varied period and layer thickness

A nonmonotonic thermopower (S) as a function of the carrier concentration (ne) has been reported for III–V semiconductor superlattices (SLs), deviating from the Pisarenko relation. However, |S| has been shown to decrease with increasing (ne) in n-type Si/Ge heterostructures, the widely used systems for numerous applications. Here, we illustrate that S of a SinGem SL, with n Si and m Ge monolayers, can deviate from the Pisarenko relation depending on the period and the composition; for example, oscillations of S of a Si12Ge12 SL reach a peak ∣S∣=540μV/K at ne=1.3×1020 cm−3, 5.4 times higher than that of bulk Si at the same doping level. Additionally, S shows an interesting sign-change nature at certain carrier concentrations. We demonstrate the direct relationship between the electronic structure and S of strain-symmetrized Si/Ge SLs using two independent modeling approaches. We anticipate that this relationship will provide insight into fully exploiting S as a tool to control electronic properties of Si/Ge heterostructures as well as future technology-enabling materials. Furthermore, we expect that this analysis will encourage future investigations to enhance thermoelectric properties of a broad class of semiconductor SLs in the high-doping regime.