• Accepted Paper

Pressure-driven multiple band engineering effects for optimizing thermoelectric transport in quasi-one-dimensional chainlike BiXI (X=S, Se)

Dianzhen Wang, Muhammad Faizan, Yan Li, Weiguo Sun, Pinwen Zhu, Li Zhu, and Feng Peng

Phys. Rev. B - Accepted 4 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qf24-5qv3

Abstract

In thermoelectrics, band engineering has long been an important strategy for optimizing electronic transport. However, conventional chemical approaches such as doping and alloying alter the composition and typically introduce additional point-defect scattering of charge carriers, limiting the achievable performance. Here, we demonstrate a pressure-driven route that combines multiple band engineering effects without intentional chemical doping or alloying, taking the quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) chain-like semiconductors BiXI (X = S, Se) as a model system. The strong structural anisotropy endows conduction-band valleys at different k points with distinct pressure responses. First-principles calculations show that pressure merges the two lowest conduction-band valleys in momentum space while converging two higher valleys in energy, and this four-band alignment simultaneously enhances the carrier mobility and the density-of-states effective mass. In-situ high-pressure transport and Hall-effect measurements confirm the resulting synergistic optimization: the Seebeck coefficient is largely retained while the electrical conductivity increases sharply, raising the average power factor by a factor of approximately 5-8 between 1 and 6 GPa. This study establishes physical pressure as a clean band-engineering tool and points toward strain-based routes for realizing similar multiband alignment at ambient pressure.

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