Effect of doping level and compensation on thermal conductivity in Ce_xSn_1–xSe solid solutions

The paper reports the results of experimental studies of the thermal conductivity and density of Ce_xSn_1–xSe solid solutions in the temperature range 80–480 K. Under the assumption of elastic scattering of charge carriers, parabolic band and arbitrary degeneracy, the electronic and lattice components of thermal conductivity have been calculated. The characteristic features of the thermal conductivity of these crystals have been analyzed, it has been shown that with an increase in cerium content and with an increase in temperature, the total (χ_tot) and lattice (χ_ph) thermal conductivity significantly decrease, while the density increases slightly (at 300 K). The dependence of thermal conductivity on the percentage of cerium in the composition has been established. With prolonged annealing, the total and lattice components of thermal conductivity increase. It has been established that heat transfer in Ce_xSn_1–xSe is carried out mainly by phonons. (author)