Phase Transitions in SnSe probed by Far Infrared Spectroscopy

Very recently an ultralow thermal conductivity and a surpassing high thermoelectric figure of merit were reported in SnSe which makes this material very attractive for electrical energy harvesting. In this paper we follow the evolution of the low-energy phonons with doping, temperature and pressure and compare the experimental results with ab initio calculations to help understanding better the low thermal conductivity in SnSe and may help developing highly efficient thermoelectric materials.