NOVELTY - A thermoelectric material comprises copper-containing composition.    USE - A thermoelectric material for thermoelectric generators, such as solar thermal power generation device, seawater thermoelectric generator, fossil fuel thermoelectric generator, and regenerative power generation device of factory or motor vehicle, photon detection element, laser diode, field effect transistor, photomultiplier tube, spectrophotometer, column used in chromatography, thermostat, cooling and heating apparatus, refrigerator, and timepieces.    ADVANTAGE - Volatilization of sulfur during thermoelectric material synthesis is suppressed, thermoelectric material with excellent thermoelectric characteristics is produced, output factor of thermoelectric material is increased, and thermal conductivity is reduced, without changing carrier concentration.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - A thermoelectric material comprises copper-containing composition of formula (Cu1-xMx)3(1+a)(Sb1-yM'y)1+bS4(1+c) (a). Output factor of thermoelectric material at room temperature is greater than or equal to 0.3x 10-3 W m-1 K-2.    3(1+a)+5(1+b)-2x 4(1+c)=- 0.1-0.1;    a, b, c=- 0.1-0.1;    x=0-0.1;    y=0-0.2;    M=Au, Ag, and/or group IA element; and    M'= greater than or equal to 1 group IVB element.    An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for manufacturing method of thermoelectric material which involves performing mixing process of raw material containing element of thermoelectric material so that S/(Sb+M') ratio may become smaller than target (Cu+M)/(Sb+M') ratio, performing precursor preparation process by heat-melting mixture obtained by mixing process and solidifying, carrying out sulfuration process by sulfurating precursor obtained by precursor preparation process at temperature lower than melting point of precursor and temperature lower than melting point of thermoelectric material, and sintering powder of sulfide obtained at sulfuration process.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The drawing shows a graph demonstrating the temperature dependence of output factor of copper antimony germanium sulfide compound. (Drawing includes non-English language text).