Apparent critical phenomena in the superionic phase transition of Cu2-xSe. (11th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kang, Stephen Dongmin; Danilkin, Sergey A; Aydemir, Umut; Avdeev, Maxim; Studer, Andrew; Snyder, G Jeffrey
• Is Part Of: New journal of physics. Volume 18:Number 1(2016:Jan.)
• Publication Date: 2016-01-11
• Subjects: phase transition -- superioinic conductors -- thermoelectrics -- thermopower; Physics -- Periodicals; Physics; Periodicals; 530.05
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/18/1/013024
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-2630

Abstract

Abstract: The superionic phase transition of accompanies drastic changes in transport properties. The Seebeck coefficient increases sharply while the electrical conductivity and thermal diffusivity drops. Such behavior has previously been attributed to critical phenomena under the assumption of a continuous phase transition. However, applying Landau's criteria suggests that the transition should be first order. Using the phase diagram that is consistent with a first order transition, we show that the observed transport properties and heat capacity curves can be accounted for and modeled with good agreement. The apparent critical phenomena is shown to be a result of compositional degree-of-freedom. Understanding of the phase transition allows to explain the enhancement in the thermoelectric figure-of-merit that is accompanied with the transition.