Preparation and thermoelectric properties of AgSbTe/sub 2/

Melt-grown and sintered materials of AgSbTe/sub 2/ were prepared by Bridgman method and plasma-activated sintering, respectively. In case of low growth rate of 10 mm/d, the ingot was coarse-grain polycrystal and the EPMA maps showed a 80% uniformity along the growth axis, while high growth rate of 10 mm/h caused non-uniformity with Ag/sub 2/Te precipitation in a whole ingot. The thermoelectric properties were characterized by high carrier concentration in the order of magnitude of 10/sup 25/ m/sup -3/ and low mobility of 10/sup -3/ m/sup 2/ V/sup -1/ s/sup -1/. The microstructures of the sintered materials reflected whether their powder source materials were obtained from the ingot with or without Ag/sub 2/Te-precipitation.