Fundamental manipulation of phonon dispersion, and thus phonon transport, relies on a change either in atomic mass (M) or in interaction force between atoms (F). Existing approaches focusing on M usually require a large variation in composition that may risk a reduction in carrier mobility. This work reveals that a manipulation of F by lattice strain through thermodynamically stable in-grain dislocations is particularly effective for minimizing the lattice thermal conductivity (k L ), leading to an extraordinary thermoelectric figure of merit in PbTe.

Cu intercalation is demonstrated to enhance the thermoelectric performance of PbSe through the dynamic doping effect and hierarchical phonon scattering.

The discovery of short-range order, associated with diffuse bands in electron diffraction patterns, provides new insights into defective half-Heusler thermoelectric crystals.