Micro-structure and Room-Temperature Thermoelectric Properties of Bi-Doped Antimony Zinc Thin Films Fabricated by Co-sputtering Method
Abstract
In this report, Bi-doped antimony zinc thin films were prepared on BK7 glass substrates by using direct magnetron co-sputtering technique. Bi was doped at the halfway point of deposition, and the doping contents were 2 at.%, 4 at.%, and 6 at.%, respectively. We present the micro-structural and room-temperature thermoelectric properties of Bi-doped Zn-Sb thin films in this paper. The maximum value of the Seebeck coefficient was found to be 300 μV/K with a Bi content of 6 at.%. This is one of the highest values of the Seebeck coefficient for Zn-Sb thin films deposited by direct magnetron co-sputtering. Carrier concentration is obtained from Hall effect measurements, which provided insights into the transport mechanisms that affected electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient. It is significant to doping Bi, which enhances the power factor to an optimal value of 0. 26 mW/mK2 and the optimal ZT value to 0.086 with the Bi content of 4 at.% at room-temperature. © 2016, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.