5. Glossary

Point defect; point defect

Defect in the crystal lattice of a material involving only one or two atoms: vacancy (an atom missing from a vacant site), interstitial defect (an extra atom inserted into a free space) or antisite (an atom substituted in place of another). May be electrically charged and therefore affect the concentration of charge carriers.

Doping; doping

The action of adding a small amount (at most a few percent) of a foreign chemical element (the dopant) to a material in order to modify the concentration of charge carriers in that material.

Alloying effect

Reduction in the phononic thermal conductivity of a material, achieved by replacing one of its chemical elements with another element of different mass. In most cases, the other chemical element is...