High thermoelectric figure of merit and thermopower in layered perovskite oxides

We predict high thermoelectric efficiency in the layered perovskite La2Ti2O7, based on calculations (mostly ab initio) of the electronic structure, transport coefficients, and thermal conductivity in a wide temperature range. The figure of merit ZT computed with a temperature-dependent relaxation time increases monotonically from just above 1 at room temperature to over 2.5 at 1200 K, at an optimal carrier density of around 10(20) cm(-3). The Seebeck thermopower coefficient is between 200 and 300 mu,V/K( at optimal doping, but can reach nearly 1 mV/K at low doping. Much of the potential of this material is due to its lattice thermal conductivity of order 1 W/(K m); using a model based on ab initio anharmonic calculations, we interpret this low value as due to effective phonon confinement within the layered-structure blocks.