Abstract
The thermoelectric material PbTe has been used in a wide variety of power generator applications. However, there is limited mechanical
property data available for PbTe for temperatures above room temperature. This paper reports dynamic elastic moduli measured via
resonant ultrasound spectroscopy on undoped and PbI2-doped polycrystalline PbTe between room temperature and 773 K; in addition,
the room temperature carrier concentration was measured by a Hall effect experiment. The Young’s modulus and shear modulus of PbTe
decreased linearly with temperature above room temperature, while the Poisson’s ratio exhibited either monotonic increase or decrease
with temperature. The Young’s modulus and shear modulus values obtained during heating and cooling agreed to within 1%. The
dynamic elastic moduli data obtained in this study compared well in general with literature data. The difference observed between
the current study and other literature studies is explained in terms of the carrier concentration effect on elastic moduli.
