Mechanical properties of PbTe-based thermoelectric semiconductors

This paper is concerned with the mechanical properties of PbTe and Pb1−xSnxTe compounds and their correlation with the respective charge carrier concentrations. Single-crystals and samples prepared by powder metallurgy display similar general trends. It was found that although there is a similar electronic behavior (constant scattering factor of −0.5) for the various compositions examined, the mechanical properties of the compounds are completely different.