Stacking Fault Complexions in AgSbTe₂ Thermoelectrics With Enhanced Electrical Conductivity

Abstract

Designing nanostructures in thermoelectric materials is a very effective way to enhance the power conversion efficiency. Nanostructures can lead to a desirable reduction in the lattice thermal conductivity, but most of them also result in unwanted decrease in the electrical conductivity. In this work, stacking faults in AgSbTe₂ are found to simultaneously act as phonon scatterers and improve the electrical conductivity. Using electron channeling contrast imaging, a high density of stacking faults is identified at low‐angle grain boundaries in AgSbTe₂. The atomic arrangement of the stacking faults is revealed by aberration‐corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. Unlike conventional stacking faults, an additional translation vector of 1/8<111> causes a larger separation at the stacking faults. Segregation of Sb and Te and depletion in Ag at the stacking faults are quantified by atom probe tomography. The larger separation and chemical segregation increase the phonon scattering rate compared to undecorated stacking faults. Using electrical measurements at the micrometer scale, the chemically decorated stacking faults are found to consistently enhance the local electrical conductivity by 20% in the normal direction. Engineering crystal defect complexions to simultaneously promote electron conduction and phonon scattering adds a new dimension to thermoelectric materials design beyond their efficiency limit.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{abdellaoui2026stacking,
  title = {{Stacking Fault Complexions in AgSbTe₂ Thermoelectrics With Enhanced Electrical Conductivity}},
  author = {Lamya Abdellaoui and Hanna Bishara and Eleonora Isotta and Cynthia Rodenkirchen and Sergei Grazhdannikov and Yuan Yu and Ruben Bueno-Villoro and Chanwon Jung and G. Jeffrey Snyder and Baptiste Gault and Yaron Amouyal and Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin and Christina Scheu and Siyuan Zhang},
  journal = {Advanced Functional Materials},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1002/adfm.77083},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05761964v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Stacking Fault Complexions in AgSbTe₂ Thermoelectrics With Enhanced Electrical Conductivity
AU  - Lamya Abdellaoui
AU  - Hanna Bishara
AU  - Eleonora Isotta
AU  - Cynthia Rodenkirchen
AU  - Sergei Grazhdannikov
AU  - Yuan Yu
AU  - Ruben Bueno-Villoro
AU  - Chanwon Jung
AU  - G. Jeffrey Snyder
AU  - Baptiste Gault
AU  - Yaron Amouyal
AU  - Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin
AU  - Christina Scheu
AU  - Siyuan Zhang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/24
JO  - Advanced Functional Materials
DO  - 10.1002/adfm.77083
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05761964v1
AB  - Designing nanostructures in thermoelectric materials is a very effective way to enhance the power conversion efficiency. Nanostructures can lead to a desirable reduction in the lattice thermal conductivity, but most of them also result in unwanted decrease in the electrical conductivity. In this work, stacking faults in AgSbTe₂ are found to simultaneously act as phonon scatterers and improve the electrical conductivity. Using electron channeling contrast imaging, a high density of stacking faults is identified at low‐angle grain boundaries in AgSbTe₂. The atomic arrangement of the stacking faults is revealed by aberration‐corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. Unlike conventional stacking faults, an additional translation vector of 1/8<111> causes a larger separation at the stacking faults. Segregation of Sb and Te and depletion in Ag at the stacking faults are quantified by atom probe tomography. The larger separation and chemical segregation increase the phonon scattering rate compared to undecorated stacking faults. Using electrical measurements at the micrometer scale, the chemically decorated stacking faults are found to consistently enhance the local electrical conductivity by 20% in the normal direction. Engineering crystal defect complexions to simultaneously promote electron conduction and phonon scattering adds a new dimension to thermoelectric materials design beyond their efficiency limit.
SN  - 1616-301X
SN  - 1616-3028
ER  -

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