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Weyl semimetal is a unique topological phase with topologically protected band crossings in the bulk and robust surface states called Fermi arcs. Weyl nodes always appear in pairs with opposite chiralities, and they need to have either time‐reversal or inversion symmetry broken. When the time‐reversal symmetry is broken the minimum number of Weyl points (WPs) is two. If these WPs are located at the Fermi level, they form an ideal Weyl semimetal (WSM). In this study, intrinsic ferromagnetic (FM) EuCd2As2 are grown, predicted to be an ideal WSM and studied its electronic structure by angle‐resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy which agrees closely with the first principles calculations. Moreover, anomalous Hall conductivity and Nernst effect are observed, resulting from the non‐zero Berry curvature, and the topological Hall effect arising from changes in the band structure caused by spin canting produced by magnetic fields. These findings can help realize several exotic quantum phenomena in inorganic topological materials that are otherwise difficult to assess because of the presence of multiple pairs of Weyl nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weyl semimetal is a unique topological phase with topologically protected band crossings in the bulk and robust surface states called Fermi arcs. Weyl nodes always appear in pairs with opposite chiralities, and they need to have either time‐reversal or inversion symmetry broken. When the time‐reversal symmetry is broken the minimum number of Weyl points (WPs) is two. If these WPs are located at the Fermi level, they form an ideal Weyl semimetal (WSM). In this study, intrinsic ferromagnetic (FM) EuCd2As2 are grown, predicted to be an ideal WSM and studied its electronic structure by angle‐resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy which agrees closely with the first principles calculations. Moreover, anomalous Hall conductivity and Nernst effect are observed, resulting from the non‐zero Berry curvature, and the topological Hall effect arising from changes in the band structure caused by spin canting produced by magnetic fields. These findings can help realize several exotic quantum phenomena in inorganic topological materials that are otherwise difficult to assess because of the presence of multiple pairs of Weyl nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical stirring of bulk Te in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NMP) solution at room temperature resulted in the formation of free‐standing few‐layer (∼1.2–2.8 nm) crystalline ultrathin nanosheets of tellurene with a large lateral thickness (∼1–1.6 μm) as confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) confirms the presence of α‐ and β‐phases of tellurene. First‐principle density functional theoretical (DFT) based electronic structure calculations demonstrate the indirect band gap of bi‐layer β‐tellurene. The band gap decreases with increasing number of layers in the tellurene nanosheet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High thermoelectric performance is generally achieved through either electronic structure modulations or phonon scattering enhancements, which often counteract each other. A leap in performance requires innovative strategies that simultaneously optimize electronic and phonon transports. We demonstrate high thermoelectric performance with a near room-temperature figure of merit, ZT ~ 1.5, and a maximum ZT ~ 2.6 at 573 kelvin, by optimizing atomic disorder in cadmium-doped polycrystalline silver antimony telluride (AgSbTe2). Cadmium doping in AgSbTe2 enhances cationic ordering, which simultaneously improves electronic properties by tuning disorder-induced localization of electronic states and reduces lattice thermal conductivity through spontaneous formation of nanoscale (~2 to 4 nanometers) superstructures and coupling of soft vibrations localized within ~1 nanometer around cadmium sites with local strain modulation. The strategy is applicable to most other thermoelectric materials that exhibit inherent atomic disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two‐step optimization strategy is used to improve the thermoelectric performance of SnTe via modulating the electronic structure and phonon transport. The electrical transport of self‐compensated SnTe (that is, Sn1.03Te) was first optimized by Ag doping, which resulted in an optimized carrier concentration. Subsequently, Mn doping in Sn1.03−xAgxTe resulted in highly converged valence bands, which improved the Seebeck coefficient. The energy gap between the light and heavy hole bands, i.e. ΔEv decreases to 0.10 eV in Sn0.83Ag0.03Mn0.17Te compared to the value of 0.35 eV in pristine SnTe. As a result, a high power factor of ca. 24.8 μW cm−1 K−2 at 816 K in Sn0.83Ag0.03Mn0.17Te was attained. The lattice thermal conductivity of Sn0.83Ag0.03Mn0.17Te reached to an ultralow value (ca. 0.3 W m−1 K−1) at 865 K, owing to the formation of Ag7Te4 nanoprecipitates in SnTe matrix. A high thermoelectric figure of merit (z T≈1.45 at 865 K) was obtained in Sn0.83Ag0.03Mn0.17Te. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of topological insulators with unique metallic surface states has added a new dimension in the field of electronics and spintronics. Following the initial breakthrough, the topologically non-trivial materials have been extended to various categories namely weak topological insulator, topological crystalline insulator, Dirac semimetal and Weyl semimetal. Interestingly, most of the topological materials are also good candidates for thermoelectric energy conversion because both demand similar material features such as heavy constituent elements, narrow band gap, and high spin-orbit coupling. Heavy metal chalcogenides satisfy these criteria and present a nice platform for exploring both thermoelectrics and topological insulation. Here, we present a brief overview of both topological materials and thermoelectrics with examples based on heavy metal chalcogenides from the perception of a solid-state chemist. Last part of this review deals with the major challenges at the intersection of these two fields and possible solutions to establish the strong correlation between topological and thermoelectric materials. Image 1 • Topological and thermoelectric materials demand heavy constituent elements, narrow bandgap and strong spin-orbit coupling. • Overview of both topological material and thermoelectrics based on heavy metal chalcogenides is discussed. • Thermoelectric properties of various topological materials such as TI, WTI, TCI and WSM are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topological crystalline insulator (TCI), Pb0.6Sn0.4Te, exhibits metallic surface states protected by crystal mirror symmetry with negligibly small band gap. Enhancement of its thermoelectric performances needs tuning of its electronic structure particularly through engineering of its band gap. While physical perturbations tune the electronic structure of TCI by breaking of the crystal mirror symmetry, chemical means such as doping have been more attractive recently as they result in better thermoelectric performance in TCIs. Here, we demonstrate that K doping in TCI, Pb0.6Sn0.4Te, breaks the crystal mirror symmetry locally and widens electronic band gap, which is confirmed by direct electronic absorption spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations. K doping in Pb0.6Sn0.4Te increases p-type carrier concentration and suppresses the bipolar conduction via widening a band gap, which collectively boosts the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) to 1 at 708K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topological crystalline insulators (TCIs) are a new quantum state of matter in which linearly dispersed metallic surface states are protected by crystal mirror symmetry. Owing to its vanishingly small bulk band gap, a TCI like Pb0.6Sn0.4Te has poor thermoelectric properties. Breaking of crystal symmetry can widen the band gap of TCI. While breaking of mirror symmetry in a TCI has been mostly explored by various physical perturbation techniques, chemical doping, which may also alter the electronic structure of TCI by perturbing the local mirror symmetry, has not yet been explored. Herein, we demonstrate that Na doping in Pb0.6Sn0.4Te locally breaks the crystal symmetry and opens up a bulk electronic band gap, which is confirmed by direct electronic absorption spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations. Na doping in Pb0.6Sn0.4Te increases p-type carrier concentration and suppresses the bipolar conduction (by widening the band gap), which collectively gives rise to a promising zT of 1 at 856 K for Pb0.58Sn0.40Na0.02Te. Breaking of crystal symmetry by chemical doping widens the bulk band gap in TCI, which uncovers a route to improve TCI for thermoelectric applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]