ULTRATHIN NANOWIRE-BASED AND NANOSCALE HETEROSTRUCTURE-BASED THERMOELECTRIC CONVERSION STRUCTURES AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME

摘要

An ultrathin tellurium nanowire structure is disclosed, including a rod-like crystalline structure of tellurium, wherein the crystalline structure is defined by diameters of between 5-6 nm. In addition, an ultrathin tellurium-based nanowire structure is disclosed including a rod-like crystalline structure of one of lead telluride and bismuth telluride, wherein an ultrathin tellurium nanowire structure is used as a precursor to generate the rod-like crystalline structure. Furthermore, a nanoscale heterostructure tellurium-based nanowire structure is disclosed including a dumbbell-like crystalline heterostructure having a center rod-like portion and one octahedral structure connected to each end of each of the center rod- like portions, wherein the center rod-like portion is a tellurium-based nanowire structure and the octahedral structures are one of lead telluride, cadmium telluride, and bismuth telluride.