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    Synergy of Rashba splitting and topological band inversion effects in Janus Bi2X2Y(X,Y=Se,Te) tetradymite thermoelectrics

    Lei Peng1,2, Ruixiao Lian1, Xiaole Tian1, Hongyu Chen1, Ben Li1, Yu Wu3, Yuxiang Zheng1,4,*, and Hao Zhang1,4,†

    • 1College of Future Information Technology, Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
    • 2Key Laboratory for Computational Physical Sciences (MOE), Institute of Computational Physical Sciences and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
    • 3Advanced Thermal Management Technology and Functional Materials Laboratory, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of NSLSCS, School of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
    • 4Yiwu Research Institute of Fudan University, Yiwu City, Zhejiang 322000, China

    • *Contact author: yxzheng@fudan.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: zhangh@fudan.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. B 114, 125407 – Published 10 August, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3v3q-syn5

    Abstract

    Simultaneously enhancing the power factor and suppressing lattice thermal conductivity is the primary challenge in designing high-performance thermoelectric materials. In tetradymite topological insulators Bi2X2Y, engineering Janus configurations offers a route to tune both electronic and phonon transport. First-principles calculations reveal that in Janus β−Bi2Se2Te, Rashba splitting induced by broken inversion symmetry acts in concert with topological band inversion to enhance the effective band edge density of states, resulting in an improved power factor relative to its centrosymmetric α-phase counterpart. Concurrently, the structural asymmetry of the Janus configuration enhances anharmonicity and expands the phonon scattering phase space, reducing the lattice thermal conductivity below that of the corresponding α phase across the full temperature range. This synergistic effect of both electronic and thermal transport enables Janus Bi2X2Y compounds to achieve theoretical figure of merit (zT) values exceeding 1 over broad carrier-concentration ranges at medium and high temperatures, with β−Bi2Se2Te reaching a peak zT of 2.75. Our work demonstrates an effective optimization strategy within Janus tetradymite topological insulators and identifies Janus Bi2X2Y as promising thermoelectric candidates.

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