From metastable to stable modifications-in situ Laue diffraction investigation of diffusion processes during the phase transitions of (GeTe)(n)Sb2Te3 (6 < n < 15) crystals.

Temperature dependent phase transitions of compounds (GeTe)nSb2Te3 (n = 6, 12, 15) have been investigated by in situ microfocus Laue diffraction. Diffusion processes involving cation defect ordering at B300 8C lead to different nanostructures which are correlated to changes of the thermoelectric characteristics

Thermoelectric Inhomogeneities in (Ag(sub 1-y)SbTe2)(sub x)(PbTe)(sub 1-x)

A document presents a study of why materials of composition (Ag1 ySbTe2)0.05 (PbTe)0.95 [02. In the study, samples of (AgSbTe2)0.05(PbTe)0.95, (Ag0.67SbTe2)0.05 (PbTe)0.95, and (Ag0.55SbTe2)0.05(PbTe)0.95 were prepared by melting followed, variously, by slow or rapid cooling. Analyses of these samples by x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and scanning-microprobe measurements of the Seebeck coefficient led to the conclusion that these materials have a multiphase character on a scale of the order of millimeters, even though they appear homogeneous in x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. The Seebeck measurements showed significant variations, including both n-type and p-type behavior in the same sample. These variations were found to be consistent with observed variations of ZT. The rapidly quenched samples were found to be less inhomogeneous than were the furnace-cooled ones; hence, rapid quenching was suggested as a basis of research on synthesizing more nearly uniform high-ZT samples

Upscaled Synthesis of n‐and p‐Type Thermoelectric Skutterudite Single Legs by Gas Atomization and Current‐Assisted Sintering

CoSb3‐based Skutterudites are among the best materials for thermoelectric generator (TEG) applications in the intermediate temperature range up to 500 °C. Synthesis of these materials is usually performed on a laboratory scale in materials research. In order to be suitable for an industrial low cost production of TEG technologies capable of delivering large amounts of thermoelectric (TE) materials are needed. A process mastering this challenge is gas atomization, which has been adapted to the requirements of TE materials, in particular CoSb3‐based Skutterudites .It is found that despite rapid solidification taking place in the atomization process the produced powder material contains only traces of the target Skutterudite phase. Microstructure investigation shows a very fine dispersion on the micrometer scale of CoSb, CoSb2, and Sb phases in the atomized particles, making diffusion paths for the formation of the Skutterudite phase short. This allows the use of short‐term heat treatment to achieve almost single phase material of high functional homogeneity. Different thermal post‐treatments are evaluated leading to a content of >98% of the Skutterudite phase in large ingots. Doping and filling by varying the starting composition is applied to tune the materials to n‐ and p‐type conduction, respectively, and led to an increase of their thermoelectric figure of merit ZT up to values of 0.9 and 0.72 for n‐ and p‐type material, respectively. Gas atomization can be used in combination with current‐assisted hot pressing to produce p‐ and n‐type Skutterudite single legs in large quantities in comparably short time. The results on ZT shown in the present work are measured on still not optimized materials and prove the possibility of Skutterudites fabrication by gas atomization with moderate ZT values

Layered germanium tin antimony tellurides: element distribution, nanostructures and thermoelectric properties

In the system Ge-Sn-Sb-Te, there is a complete solid solution series between GeSb2Te4 and SnSb2Te4. As Sn2Sb2Te5 does not exist, Sn can only partially replace Ge in Ge2Sb2Te5; samples with 75% or more Sn are not homogeneous. The joint refinement of high-resolution synchrotron data measured at the K-absorption edges of Sn, Sb and Te combined with data measured at off-edge wavelengths unambiguously yields the element distribution in 21R-Ge0.6Sn0.4Sb2Te4 and 9P-Ge1.3Sn0.7Sb2Te5. In both cases, Sb predominantly concentrates on the position near the van der Waals gaps between distorted rocksalt-type slabs whereas Ge prefers the position in the middle of the slabs. No significant antisite disorder is present. Comparable trends can be found in related compounds; they are due to the single-side coordination of the Te atoms at the van der Waals gap, which can be compensated more effectively by Sb3+ due to its higher charge in comparison to Ge2+. The structure model of 21R-Ge0.6Sn0.4Sb2Te4 was confirmed by high-resolution electron microscopy and electron diffraction. In contrast, electron diffraction patterns of 9P-Ge1.3Sn0.7Sb2Te5 reveal a significant extent of stacking disorder as evidenced by diffuse streaks along the stacking direction. The Seebeck coefficient is unaffected by the Sn substitution but the thermal conductivity drops by a factor of 2 which results in a thermoelectric figure of merit ZT = similar to 0.25 at 450 degrees C for both Ge0.6Sn0.4Sb2Te4 and Ge1.3Sn0.7Sb2Te5, which is higher than similar to 0.20 for unsubstituted stable layered Ge-Sb-Te compounds

Overcoming Asymmetric Contact Resistances in Al-Contacted Mg2 (Si, Sn) Thermoelectric Legs

Thermoelectric generators are a reliable and environmentally friendly source of electrical energy. A crucial step for their development is the maximization of their efficiency. The efficiency of a TEG is inversely related to its electrical contact resistance, which it is therefore essential to minimize. In this paper, we investigate the contacting of an Al electrode on Mg2(Si,Sn) thermoelectric material and find that samples can show highly asymmetric electrical contact resistivities on both sides of a leg (e.g., 10 µΩ·cm2 and 200 µΩ·cm2). Differential contacting experiments allow one to identify the oxide layer on the Al foil as well as the dicing of the pellets into legs are identified as the main origins of this behavior. In order to avoid any oxidation of the foil, a thin layer of Zn is sputtered after etching the Al surface; this method proves itself effective in keeping the contact resistivities of both interfaces equally low (2) after dicing. A slight gradient is observed in the n-type leg’s Seebeck coefficient after the contacting with the Zn-coated electrode and the role of Zn in this change is confirmed by comparing the experimental results to hybrid-density functional calculations of Zn point defects

p53 and p73 display common and distinct requirements for sequence specific binding to DNA

Although p53 and p73 share considerable homology in their DNA-binding domains, there have been few studies examining their relative interactions with DNA as purified proteins. Comparing p53 and p73β proteins, our data show that zinc chelation by EDTA is significantly more detrimental to the ability of p73β than of p53 to bind DNA, most likely due to the greater effect that the loss of zinc has on the conformation of the DNA-binding domain of p73. Furthermore, prebinding to DNA strongly protects p73β but not p53 from chelation by EDTA suggesting that DNA renders the core domain of p73 less accessible to its environment. Further exploring these biochemical differences, a five-base sub-sequence was identified in the p53 consensus binding site that confers a greater DNA-binding stability on p73β than on full-length p53 in vitro. Surprisingly, p53 lacking its C-terminal non-specific DNA-binding domain (p53Δ30) demonstrates the same sequence discrimination as does p73β. In vivo, both p53 and p73β exhibit higher transactivation of a reporter with a binding site containing this sub-sequence, suggesting that lower in vitro dissociation translates to higher in vivo transactivation of sub-sequence-containing sites

Forward pi^0 Production and Associated Transverse Energy Flow in Deep-Inelastic Scattering at HERA

Deep-inelastic positron-proton interactions at low values of Bjorken-x down to x \approx 4.10^-5 which give rise to high transverse momentum pi^0 mesons are studied with the H1 experiment at HERA. The inclusive cross section for pi^0 mesons produced at small angles with respect to the proton remnant (the forward region) is presented as a function of the transverse momentum and energy of the pi^0 and of the four-momentum transfer Q^2 and Bjorken-x. Measurements are also presented of the transverse energy flow in events containing a forward pi^0 meson. Hadronic final state calculations based on QCD models implementing different parton evolution schemes are confronted with the data.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures and 3 table

Multi-Jet Event Rates in Deep Inelastic Scattering and Determination of the Strong Coupling Constant

Jet event rates in deep inelastic ep scattering at HERA are investigated applying the modified JADE jet algorithm. The analysis uses data taken with the H1 detector in 1994 and 1995. The data are corrected for detector and hadronization effects and then compared with perturbative QCD predictions using next-to-leading order calculations. The strong coupling constant alpha_S(M_Z^2) is determined evaluating the jet event rates. Values of alpha_S(Q^2) are extracted in four different bins of the negative squared momentum transfer~\qq in the range from 40 GeV2 to 4000 GeV2. A combined fit of the renormalization group equation to these several alpha_S(Q^2) values results in alpha_S(M_Z^2) = 0.117+-0.003(stat)+0.009-0.013(syst)+0.006(jet algorithm).Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, this version to appear in Eur. Phys. J.; it replaces first posted hep-ex/9807019 which had incorrect figure 4