Ge$_{2}$Sb$_{2}$Te$_{5}$ (GST) has been widely used as a popular phase change material. In this study, we show that it exhibits high Seebeck coefficients 200 - 300 $mu$V/K in its cubic crystalline phase ($it{c}$-GST) at remarkably high $it{p}$-type d
oping levels of $sim$ 1$times$10$^{19}$ - 6$times$10$^{19}$ cm$^{-3}$ at room temperature. More importantly, at low temperature (T = 200 K), the Seebeck coefficient was found to exceed 200 $mu$V/K for a doping range 1$times$10$^{19}$ - 3.5$times$10$^{19}$ cm$^{-3}$. Given that the lattice thermal conductivity in this phase has already been measured to be extremely low ($sim$ 0.7 W/m-K at 300 K),citep{r51} our results suggest the possibility of using $it{c}$-GST as a low-temperature thermoelectric material.
The band structure, optical and defects properties of Ba_{2}TeO are systematically investigated using density functional theory with a view to understanding its potential as an optoelectronic or trans- parent conducting material. Ba_{2}TeO crystalliz
es with tetragonal structure (space group P4/nmm) and with a 2.93 eV optical band gap 1 . We find relatively modest band masses for both electrons and holes suggesting applications. Optical properties show a infrared-red absorption when doped. This could potentially be useful for combining wavelength filtering and transparent conducting functions. Furthermore, our defect calculations show that Ba_{2}TeO is intrinsically p-type conducting under Ba-poor condition. However, the spontaneous formation of the donor defects may constrain the p-type transport properties and would need to be addressed to enable applications.
