Enhanced thermoelectric performance of mechanically hard nano-crystalline-sputtered SnSe thin film compared to the bulk of SnSe

TL;DR: This study investigates the thermoelectric properties of Tin Selenide thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering, achieving a highest power factor of 0.24 mW m^-1 K^-2 with optimized electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used radio frequency magnetron sputtering as a cathode material for flexible high-voltage lithium ion batteries and showed that these films became loose with the increasing of the deposition pressure, and the annealing temperature could improve nanostructures.

Abstract: The dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) in bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) bulk alloys has remained around 1 for more than 50 years. We show that a peak ZT of 1.4 at 100°C can be achieved in a p-type nanocrystalline BiSbTe bulk alloy. These nanocrystalline bulk materials were made by hot pressing nanopowders that were ball-milled from crystalline ingots under inert conditions. Electrical transport measurements, coupled with microstructure studies and modeling, show that the ZT improvement is the result of low thermal conductivity caused by the increased phonon scattering by grain boundaries and defects. More importantly, ZT is about 1.2 at room temperature and 0.8 at 250°C, which makes these materials useful for cooling and power generation. Cooling devices that use these materials have produced high-temperature differences of 86°, 106°, and 119°C with hot-side temperatures set at 50°, 100°, and 150°C, respectively. This discovery sets the stage for use of a new nanocomposite approach in developing high-performance low-cost bulk thermoelectric materials.

TL;DR: This study proposes a miniaturized planar Si-nanowire micro-thermoelectric generator (SiNW-μTEG) architecture, which could be simply fabricated using the complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor–compatible process and reduces the parasitic thermal resistance by optimizing the fabrication process of AlN films as a thermally conductive layer.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a glossary of terms and acronyms used in surface engineering, including the low-pressure gas and vacuum processing environment and the low pressure plasma processing environment.