High Energy X-ray and Neutron Scattering on Bi₂Te₃ Nanowires, Nanocomposites, and Bulk Materials

This chapter reviews earlier studies carried out using neutron and high-energy X-ray scattering devoted to thermoelectric bismuth telluride and related materials. Techniques and insights gained during the research program dedicated to dimensionality, structures, and excitations in nanostructured bismuth telluride are discussed. The chapter demonstrates that thermal conductivity can be accessed microscopically using well established, e.g. inelastic neutron scattering (INS), as well as relatively new experimental methods, for example, nuclear inelastic scattering (NIS). While both NIS and inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS) can be used to probe lattice dynamics in small-scale systems such as nanowires and thin films, INS is applicable to bulk materials or nanocomposites, which can be synthesized in bulk quantities. Electronic properties of Bi2Te3 and related materials could be effectively investigated using high-energy X-rays, for example, using Te K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy yielding both structural and electronic information.