Patent ID: 8067686
Filing Date: 2011-11-29
Classification: H01L

Abstract:
1. A thermoelectric material which is a sintered body and represented by composition formula (1) and comprises as a major phase an MgAgAs crystal structure, the sintered body being obtained by melting raw materials to obtain melted raw materials, quenching the melted raw materials to obtain an alloy formed of a metallic lump, pulverizing the alloy to obtain an alloy powder, and monolithic molding the alloy powder by sintering, hot press or SPS method, wherein the composition formula (1) is (Ti a1 Zr b1 Hf c1 ) x Ni y Sn 100-x-y , and a1, b1, c1, x and y satisfy the conditions of: 0<a1<1, 0.2≦b1≦0.4, 0<c1<1, a1+b1+c1=1, 30≦x≦35 and 30≦y≦35, and the sintered body has a dimensionless figure-of-merit ZT value of not less than 0.07 at 300° K.