Skutterudite based new thermoelectric compounds. Cerium filled Ni substituted skutterudites Ce/sub y/Fe/sub 4-x/Ni/sub x/Sb/sub 12/ type XANES and neutron diffraction studies

Low thermal conductivity of filled and partially filled skutterudites is due to specific properties of filling atom. In order to achieve a better fundamental understanding of this behavior, we have performed XANES and neutron diffraction experiments for the Ce/sub y/Fe/sub 4-x/Ni/sub x/Sb/sub 12/ class compounds.