A study of transport properties in Cu and P doped ZnSb

ZnSb samples have been doped with copper and phosphorus and sintered at 798 K. Electronic transport properties are interpreted as being influenced by an impurity band close to the valence band. At low Cu dopant concentrations, this impurity band degrades the thermoelectric properties as the Seebeck coefficient and effective mass are reduced. At carrier concentrations above 1 x 10(19) cm(-3), the Seebeck coefficient in Cu doped samples can be described by a single parabolic band. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.