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2023 Vol. 2, No. 3

30 October 2023

Cover Story | Issue 3 Front Cover

This cover introduces the role of point defects in thermoelectric transport. Taking the half-Heusler ZrCoBi as an example, the intrinsic Co interstitials in single crystalline ZrCoBi contribute extra electrons in the system. A shift of the Fermi level into the conduction band leads to a metallic transport behavior in ZrCoBi. Moreover, the large amounts of Co interstitial point form in-gap states resulting in a large effective mass and high Seebeck coefficient. This work demonstrates the critical role of intrinsic point defects in tailoring the thermoelectric transport properties.

Yu Pan*, Bin He and Claudia Felser

2023, 2, 230016. doi: 10.54227/mlab.20230016


Cover Story | Issue 3 Back Cover

The cover shows a scanning tunneling microscopy image of a Pb surface with implanted subsurface cavities. The close-up view of a single buried cavity unveils its electronic structure that consists of laterally confined quantum well states in its center and interference patterns of incoming and reflected electron waves at its boundary. Spectra of the differential conductance (σ versus ε) exhibit the spectroscopic fine structure due to lateral confinement superimposed on the signature of a quantum well state due to vertical confinement.

Jörg Kröger*, Nicolas Néel, Simon Crampin

2023, 2, 230006. doi: 10.54227/mlab.20230006