A comprehensive study of thermoelectric and transport properties of β-silicon carbide nanowires

The temperature dependence of the Seebeck coefficient, the electrical and thermal conductivities of individual beta-silicon carbide nanowires produced by combustion in a calorimetric bomb were studied using a suspended micro-resistance thermometry device that allows four-point probe measurements to be conducted on each nanowire. Additionally, crystal structure and growth direction for each measured nanowire was directly obtained by transmission electron microscopy analysis. The Fermi level, the carrier concentration, and mobility of each nanostructure were determined using a combination of Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity measurements, energy band structure and transport theory calculations. The temperature dependence of the thermal and electrical conductivities of the nanowires was explained in terms of contributions from boundary, impurity, and defect scattering. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.