Pt-induced semimetallic transport and enhanced thermoelectric response in the half-Heusler alloy YNi 0.5Pt 0.5Bi
The study investigated YNi$_{0.5}$Pt$_{0.5}$Bi to see how Pt substitution affects its electronic, magnetic, and thermoelectric properties. Pt alloying drives the material towards a semimetallic state with hole-dominated conduction and a low carrier concentration (1.9 x 10$^{19}$ cm$^{-3}$). This change significantly improves the room-temperature power factor (PF) and figure of merit ($zT$), showing Pt alloying is an effective way to tune these properties.