Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-q6k6v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-12T04:36:57.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Enhancement in Figure-Of-Merit with Superlattice Structures for Thin-Film Thermoelectric Devices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

R. Venkatasubramanian  and
T. Colpitts
R. Venkatasubramanian
Affiliation:
Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
T. Colpitts
Affiliation:
Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
Get access

Abstract

Thin-film superlattice (SL) structures in thermoelectric materials are shown to be a promising approach to obtaining an enhanced figure-of-merit, ZT, compared to conventional, state-of-the-art bulk alloyed materials. In this paper we describe experimental results on Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 and Si/Ge SL structures, relevant to thermoelectric cooling and power conversion, respectively. The short-period Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 and Si/Ge SL structures appear to indicate reduced thermal conductivities compared to alloys of these materials. From the observed behavior of thermal conductivity values in the Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 SL structures, a distinction is made where certain types of periodic structures may correspond to an ordered alloy rather than an SL, and therefore, do not offer a significant reduction in thermal conductivity values. Our study also indicates that SL structures, with little or weak quantum-confinement, also offer an improvement in thermoelectric power factor over conventional alloys. We present power factor and electrical transport data in the plane of the SL interfaces to provide preliminary support for our arguments on reduced alloy scattering and impurity scattering in Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 and Si/Ge SL structures. These results, though tentative due to the possible role of the substrate and the developmental nature of the 3-ω method used to determine thermal conductivity values, suggest that the short-period SL structures potentially offer factorial improvements in the three-dimensional figure-of-merit (ZT3D) compared to current state-of-the-art bulk alloys. An approach to a thin-film thermoelectric device called a Bipolarity-Assembled, Series-Inter-Connected Thin- Film Thermoelectric Device (BASIC-TFTD) is introduced to take advantage of these thin-film SL structures.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 478: Symposium Q – Thermoelectric Materials - New Directions and Approaches , 1997 , 73
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Sales, B.C., Mandrus, D., and Williams, R.K., Science 272, 1325 (1996).Google Scholar
2. Hicks, L.D., Harman, T.C., Sun, X., and Dresselhaus, M.S., Proc. of XV International Conf. on Thermoelectrics, IEEE Catalog No. 96TH 8169, 450 (1996); T.E. Whall and E.H. C. Parker, Proc. of 1 st Euro. Conf. on Thermoelectrics, 51 (1987).Google Scholar
3. Harman, T.C., Spears, D.L., and Manfra, M.J., J. Elec. Materials 25, 1121 (1996).Google Scholar
4. Venkatasubramanian, R., Colpitts, T., Watko, E., and Hutchby, J., Proc. of XV International Conf. on Thermoelectrics, IEEE Catalog No. 96TH 8169, 454 (1996).Google Scholar
5. Special Issue on Thermoelectrics, Naval Research Reviews, Published by the Office of Naval Research, Ed. Pazik, J., USA, (1996).Google Scholar
6. Mahan, G.D. and Lyon, H.B., J. Appl. Phys., 76, 1899 (1994).Google Scholar
7. Venkatasubramanian, R., Proceedings of the 1st National Thermogenic Cooler Workshop, Sept. 17, 1992, Fort Belvoir, VA; R. Venkatasubramanian, M.L. Timmons and J. A. Hutchby, Proc. of the 12th Inter. Conf. on Thermoelectrics, Yokohama, H. Mastubara Ed., 322 (1994).Google Scholar
8. Narayanamurthi, V., Stormer, H., Chin, M., Gossard, A.C. and Wiegmann, W., Phys. Rev. Lett., 43, 2012 (1979).Google Scholar
9. Lee, S.-M., Cahill, D.G. and Venkatasubramanian, R., ”Thermal conductivity of Si-Ge superlattices”, Appl. Phys. Lett., in press (1997).Google Scholar
10. RTI US Patent Provisional Application No. 2025–117–20.Google Scholar
11. Whitlow, L.W. and Hirano, T., Proc. of the 12th International Conf. on Thermoelectrics, Yokohama, , Matsubara, H. Ed., 39(1994).Google Scholar
12. Milnes, A.G. and Feucht, D.L., Heterojunctions and Metal-Semiconductor Junctions, Academic Press, NY (1972).Google Scholar
13. Cahill, D.G., Katiyar, M., and Abelson, J.R., Phys. Rev. B, 50, 6077 (1994).Google Scholar
14. Venkatasubramanian, R., Colpitts, T., Watko, E., Lamvik, M. and El-Masry, N., J. Crystal Growth 170, 817 (1997).Google Scholar
15. Rosi, F.D. and Ramberg, E.G., ”Evaluation and Properties of Materials for Thermoelectric Applications”, in Thermoelectricity, Ed. Egli, , John Wiley, NY (1960).Google Scholar
16. Boltaks, B.I. and Fedorovich, N.A., in Thermoelectric Properties of Semiconductors, Ed. by Kutasson, V.A., Consultants Bureau, NY, 4 (1964).Google Scholar
17. Slack, G.A., Private Communication.Google Scholar
18. Slack, G.A., Sol. State Phys., Ed. Seitz, and Turnbull, (Academic, NY, 1979), Vol.34, p. 13.Google Scholar
19. Cahill, D.G. and Pohl, R.O., Phys. Rev. B, 35, 4067 (1987).Google Scholar
20. Venkatasubramanian, R., Unpublished work in progress.Google Scholar
21. Scherrer, H. and Scherrer, S., Proc. of the 12th Inter. Conf. on Thermoelectrics, Matsubara, Yokohama, H. Ed., 90 (1994).Google Scholar
22. Miller, R.C., Kleinmann, D.A., and Gossard, A.C., Phys. Rev. B, 29, 7085 (1984).Google Scholar