Indium-doped tin tellurides are promising and thoroughly investigated thermoelectric materials. Due to the low solubility of In₂Te₃ in SnTe and vice versa, samples with the nominal composition (SnTe)_3-3x(In₂Te₃)_x with 0.136 ≤ x ≤ 0.75 consist of a defect-rocksalt-type Sn-rich and a defect-sphalerite-type In-rich phase which are endotaxially intergrown and form nanoscale heterostructures. Such nanostructures are kinetically inert and become more pronounced with increasing overall In content. The vacancies often show short-range ordering. These phenomena are investigated by temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction and HRTEM as well as STEM with element mapping by X-ray spectroscopy. The combination of real-structure effects leads to very low lattice thermal conductivity from room temperature up to 500 °C. Thermoelectric figures of merit ZT of heterostructured materials with x = 0.136 reach ZT values up to 0.55 at 400 °C.

掺杂铟的碲化锡是有前途的，并且经过了深入的研究。由于In ₂ Te ₃在SnTe中的溶解度低，反之亦然，标称成分（SnTe）为_3-3x（In ₂ Te ₃）_x的样品0.136≤x≤0.75的Al沿轴向共生并形成纳米级异质结构，由缺陷岩盐型富Sn相和闪锌矿型In富相组成。这种纳米结构在动力学上是惰性的，并且随着总In含量的增加而变得更加明显。空缺经常显示出短距离排序。通过依赖于温度的X射线衍射和HRTEM以及带有X射线光谱的元素映射的STEM研究了这些现象。实际结构效应的结合导致从室温到500  °C的晶格热导率非常低。x = 0.136的异质结构材料的热电系数ZT在400  °C时达到ZT值高达0.55 。