Abstract Minimization of lattice thermal conductivity plays a key role in advancing thermoelectrics, a typical strategy of which is the introduction of atomic disorder for strong phonon scattering through atomic mass and strain fluctuations. Maximizing this type of scattering requires dense point defects with large mass/strain contrasts, motivating the current work to focus on the thermoelectric properties of Sn1/3Ge1/3Pb1/3Te with massive disordered cations. Thanks to the formation of a solid solution around this particular composition, which enables an atomic disorder significantly higher than ever reported in IV-VI alloys, the resultant strong phonon scattering leads to a dramatic reduction in lattice thermal conductivity in the entire temperature range. In addition, MnTe alloying leads to a maximization of transporting valence bands for a superior electronic performance. These effects end up with both an extraordinary peak figure of merit and a significant improvement in its average. This leads Sn1/3Ge1/3Pb1/3Te alloys, crystallographically close relatives to SnTe, to be significantly superior in thermoelectric performance to that of SnTe.

中文翻译：

---

原子无序推进具有多带传输的热电第 IV 族碲化物合金

摘要 晶格热导率的最小化在推进热电学中起着关键作用，其典型的策略是通过原子质量和应变波动引入原子无序以实现强声子散射。最大化这种类型的散射需要具有大质量/应变对比的密集点缺陷，促使当前的工作专注于具有大量无序阳离子的 Sn1/3Ge1/3Pb1/3Te 的热电特性。由于在这种特定组合物周围形成了固溶体，这使得原子无序度显着高于 IV-VI 合金中所报道的，由此产生的强声子散射导致整个温度范围内晶格热导率的显着降低。此外，MnTe 合金化导致传输价带的最大化，以获得卓越的电子性能。这些效果最终会带来非凡的峰值品质因数和平均值的显着提高。这导致在晶体学上与 SnTe 接近的 Sn1/3Ge1/3Pb1/3Te 合金在热电性能方面明显优于 SnTe。