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Large Area Depositions of Si/SiC Quantum Well Films for Thermoelectric Generator Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Tianhua Yu ,
Harry Efstathiadis ,
Richard Matyi ,
Pradeep Haldar ,
Saeid Ghamaty  and
Norbert Elsner
Tianhua Yu
Affiliation:
[email protected], University at Albany - SUNY, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, United States
Harry Efstathiadis
Affiliation:
[email protected], University at Albany - SUNY, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, United States
Richard Matyi
Affiliation:
[email protected], University at Albany - SUNY, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, United States
Pradeep Haldar
Affiliation:
[email protected], University at Albany - SUNY, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, United States
Saeid Ghamaty
Affiliation:
[email protected], Hi-Z Technology, Inc, United States
Norbert Elsner
Affiliation:
[email protected], Hi-Z Technology, Inc, United States
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Abstract

Recent development in thermoelectric conversion, especially in the area of quantum well (QW) thin film materials, have demonstrated the potential to achieve the high efficiency and power density to fabricate future power supplies. In this study, we develop the large area QW films of N-type Si/SiC integrated with P-type B4C/B9C, which can be used as thermoelectric devices for waste heat recovery. The approach is to fabricate thick large area film stacks (up to 11 μm) deposited by sputter deposition technique on 6” n-type (100) silicon substrates, which might be proven to be a suitable method for potentially manufacturing large area thermoelectric devices in a cost effective manner. These more basic studies are being carried out to better understand variables such as film thickness, deposition rate and other important parameters of these ∼10 nm films. The resulting as deposited and annealed multilayer stacks were characterized in terms of thin film uniformity, thickness, growth rate, composition, and thermoelectric performance, by Spectroreflectometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), and electrical measurements. Issues, which could cause film stack degradation, such as interface layer formation, film delamination, and crack formation lowering the device performance will be presented and correlated to device efficiency.

Keywords

thermoelectricityphysical vapor deposition (PVD)nanoscale
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-F04-08
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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References

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