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Description:

Thermoelectric (TE) materials are useful for applications such as waste heat harvesting or efficient
and targeted cooling. While various strategies towards superior thermoelectrics through a reduction
of the lattice thermal conductivity have been developed, a path to enhance the power factor is
pressing. Here, we report large power factors up to 5mWm−1 K−2 at room temperature in the
kagome metal Ni3In1–xSnx . This system is predicted to feature almost dispersionless flat bands
in conjunction with highly dispersive Dirac-like bands in its electronic structure around the Fermi
energy EF [L. Ye et al., Nature Physics 1–5 (2024)]. Within this study, we experimentally and
theoretically showcase that tuning this flat band precisely below EF by chemical doping x boosts
the Seebeck coefficient and power factor, as highly mobile charge carriers scatter into the flat-band
states. Our work demonstrates the prospect of engineering extremely flat and highly dispersive
bands towards the Fermi energy in kagome metals and introduces topological flat bands as a novel
tuning knob for thermoelectrics.

Rights:

• Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 International
  

Keyword: thermoelectric

Date published: 2025-05-14

Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)

Journal:

• Physical Review X (ISSN: 21603308) vol. 15 issue. 2 p. 21054-21054 021054

Funding:

• Japan Science and Technology Agency JPMJMI19A1
• Technische Universität Wien
• Northwestern University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Manuscript type: Publisher's version (Version of record)

MDR DOI:

First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevx.15.021054

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Updated at: 2025-11-11 16:30:10 +0900

Published on MDR: 2025-11-11 16:24:12 +0900