Convergence of valence bands for high thermoelectric performance for p-type InN

Band engineering to converge the bands to achieve high valley degeneracy is one of effective approaches for designing ideal thermoelectric materials. Convergence of many valleys in the valence band may lead to a high Seebeck coefficient, and induce promising thermoelectric performance of p-type InN. In the current work, we have systematically investigated the electronic structure and thermoelectric performance of wurtzite InN by using the density functional theory combined with semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory. Form the results, it can be found that intrinsic InN has a large Seebeck coefficient (254 μV/K) and the largest value of ZeT is 0.77. The transport properties of p-type InN are better than that of n-type one at the optimum carrier concentration, which mainly due to the large Seebeck coefficient for p-type InN, although the electrical conductivity of n-type InN is larger than that of p-type one. We found that the larger Seebeck coefficient for p-type InN may originate from the large valley degeneracy in the valence band. Moreover, the low minimum lattice thermal conductivity for InN is one key factor to become a good thermoelectric material. Therefore, p-type InN could be a potential material for further applications in the thermoelectric area.