Thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te3 atomic quintuple thin films

Motivated by recent experimental realizations of quintuple atomic layer films of Bi2Te3, the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT of the quintuple layer is calculated and found to increase by a factor of 10 (ZT=7.15) compared to that of the bulk at room-temperature. The large enhancement in ZT results from the change in the distribution of the valence band density of modes brought about by the quantum confinement in the thin film. The theoretical model uses ab initio electronic structure calculations (VASP) with full quantum-mechanical structure relaxation combined with a Landauer formalism for the linear-response transport coefficients. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3518078]