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Investigation of Low Resistance Contacts to Pb-Sb-Ag-Te (LAST) Materials for Module Fabrication

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Jonathan D'Angelo ,
Jarrod L Short ,
Adam D. Downey ,
Michael A. Pajor ,
Timothy P. Hogan ,
Duck-Young Chung ,
Mercouri G Kanatzidis ,
Ed Timm  and
Harold Schock
Jonathan D'Angelo
Affiliation:
[email protected], Michigan State University, 5228 Madison Ave Apt A-5, Okemos, Michigan, 48864, United States
Jarrod L Short
Affiliation:
[email protected], Michigan State University, Electrical Engineering
Adam D. Downey
Affiliation:
[email protected], Michigan State University, Electrical Engineering
Michael A. Pajor
Affiliation:
[email protected], Michigan State University, Electrical Engineering
Timothy P. Hogan
Affiliation:
[email protected], Michigan State University, Electrical Engineering
Duck-Young Chung
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, Michigan State University
Mercouri G Kanatzidis
Affiliation:
[email protected], Michigan State University, Chemistry
Ed Timm
Affiliation:
[email protected], Michigan State University, Mechanical Engineering
Harold Schock
Affiliation:
[email protected], Michigan State University, Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

Low electrical contact resistance is essential for the fabrication of high efficiency thermoelectric generators. These contacts must be stable to high temperatures and through thermal cycling. Here we present the fabrication procedure and characterization of several contacts to Pb-Sb-Ag-Te (LAST) compounds. Contact materials investigated include tungsten, antimony, tin, nickel, and bismuth antimony based solder. The contacts were typically deposited by an electron beam evaporation method after careful preparation of the sample surface. The resistances were measured by using the transmission line model, and ohmic behavior was verified through current vs. voltage measurements. The best contact resistivities of less than 20 µΩ·cm2 have been measured for annealed antimony to n-type LAST samples. We present these procedures for fabricating low resistance contacts and the use of these procedures towards the fabrication of high efficiency thermoelectric generator modules.

Keywords

devicessolderingSb
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 886: Symposium F – Materials and Technologies fore Direct Thermal-to-Electric Energy Conversion , 2005 , 0886-F08-10
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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References

REFERENCES

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