Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-06-18

Nitride-based nanostructured novel thermoelectric thin-film materials

Objective

My recent discovery of the anomalously high thermoelectric power factor of ScN thin films demonstrates that unexpected thermoelectric materials can be found among the early transition-metal and rare-earth nitrides. Corroborated by first-principles calculations, we have well-founded hypotheses that these properties stem from nitrogen vacancies, dopants, and alloying, which introduce controllable sharp features with a large slope at the Fermi level, causing a drastically increased Seebeck coefficient. In-depth fundamental studies are needed to enable property tuning and materials design in these systems, to timely exploit my discovery and break new ground.

The project concerns fundamental, primarily experimental, studies on scandium nitride-based and related single-phase and nanostructured films. The overall goal is to understand the complex correlations between electronic, thermal and thermoelectric properties and structural features such as layering, orientation, epitaxy, dopants and lattice defects. Ab initio calculations of band structures, mixing thermodynamics, and properties are integrated with the experimental activities. Novel mechanisms are proposed for drastic reduction of the thermal conductivity with retained high power factor. This will be realized by intentionally introduced secondary phases and artificial nanolaminates; the layering causing discontinuities in the phonon distribution and thus reducing thermal conductivity.

My expertise in thin-film processing and advanced materials characterization places me in a unique position to pursue this novel high-gain approach to thermoelectrics, and an ERC starting grant will be essential in achieving critical mass and consolidating an internationally leading research platform. The scientific impact and vision is in pioneering an understanding of a novel class of thermoelectric materials with potential for thermoelectric devices for widespread use in environmentally friendly energy applications.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

ERC-2013-StG
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant

Host institution

Linköping University
EU contribution
€ 1 499 976,00
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0