Thermoelectric properties of Yb-filled and Sn-compensated skutterudites

The effect of alloying tin on the antimony site of ytterbium-filled skutterudites is examined. We performed measurements of Hall effect, electrical resistivity, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity on the series Yb/sub 0.5/Co/sub 4/Sb/sub 12-x/Sn/sub x/, with x=0.5, 0.6, 0.8 and 0.83. We find that the substitution of tin does not alter the position of the Fermi level with respect to the conduction band of these heavily doped semiconducting samples, but rather it gives rise to a p-type band. Experimental data for x=0.83 can be understood in the context of a two-carrier electrical conduction. Thermal conductivity of these ytterbium-filled skutterudites is significantly suppressed with respect to the unfilled cobalt tri-antimonide.