Patent ID: 8563844

Claim:
A thin-film thermoelectric material comprising: a heterostructure formed in a Group IIa and IV-VI materials system, the heterostructure comprising a plurality of barrier layers separated by a plurality of well layers such that the plurality of barrier layers and the plurality of well layers form an alternating series of barrier and well layers; wherein: each well layer of the plurality of well layers comprises one or more layers of a first material in the Group IIa and IV-VI materials system, and each barrier layer of the plurality of barrier layers comprises one or more layers of a second material in the Group IIa and IV-VI materials system having a bandgap that is greater than that of the first material in the Group IIa and IV-VI materials system of all adjacent well layers in the heterostructure; and the first material in the Group IIa and IV-VI materials system of each of the plurality of well layers is a first Lead Strontium Tin Selenide material, and the second material in the Group IIa and IV-VI materials system of each of the plurality of barrier layers is a second Lead Strontium Tin Selenide material having a bandgap that is greater than that of the first Lead Strontium Tin Selenide material of all adjacent well layers in the heterostructure.