Drastic reduction of thermal conductivity in hexagonal AX (A = Ga, In & Tl, X = S, Se & Te) monolayers due to alternative atomic configuration

Several two-dimensional chalcogenide materials have been in the limelight in the recent past for their promising thermoelectric properties. It is well established that the thermoelectric performance of materials improves on reducing the physical dimensionality of the system. Two-dimensional hexagonal chalcogen (S, Se and Te) bearing compounds of Ga, In and Tl have already been studied extensively in literature. But in those phases, the group-13 non-chalcogen atoms occupy the two inner planes while the chalcogens occupy the two outer planes of the unit cell. In this work, we have proposed the alternate arrangement in which the chalcogen atoms occupy the two inner planes while the group-13 atoms occupy the two outer planes of the unit cell. Unprecedentedly, this alternate arrangement shows much lower thermal conductivity that leads to superior thermoelectric performance. In this work we have studied in details the thermoelectric properties of hexagonal AX (A = Ga, In & Tl, X = S, Se & Te) monolayers and compare the results having both the atomic arrangements. The very low lattice thermal conductivity of this new arrangement is due to the outermost valence s-orbital lone pair of the chalcogens which leads to enhanced anharmonicity. We have explained these results from the anti-crossing of the phonon branches as well. The electronic, dynamical, thermodynamical and elastic properties have also been studied. We think that these results should have significant impact on the synthesis of high-performance thermoelectric materials based on chalcogenides of gallium, indium and thallium.

Automated summary

This research proposes a new atomic arrangement in which chalcogen atoms occupy the inner planes while group-13 atoms occupy the outer planes of the unit cell, leading to lower thermal conductivity and superior thermoelectric performance. The study explores the thermoelectric properties of hexagonal AX monolayers and compares the results of both atomic arrangements, highlighting the impact on synthesizing high-performance thermoelectric materials based on chalcogenides of gallium, indium, and thallium.