The fabrication of nanoscale Bi₂Te₃/Sb₂Te₃ multilayer thin film-based thermoelectric power chips

Journal Article · 21 May 2018 · Microelectronic Engineering

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2018.05.001 · OSTI ID:1473637

Xiao, Zhigang  ^[1]; Kisslinger, Kim ^[2]; Dimasi, E. ^[3]; Kimbrough, J. ^[1]

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1. Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL (United States). Department of Electrical Engineering
2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source

In this work, we report our method of fabricating nanoscale multilayered Bi₂Te₃/Sb₂Te₃ thin film-based integrated thermoelectric devices, and detail the voltage and power produced by the device. The multilayered Bi₂Te₃/Sb₂Te₃ thin film was grown via e-beam evaporation; it had 20 alternating Bi₂Te₃- and Sb₂Te₃-layers, each layer being 1.5 nm thick. We characterized the film using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), revealing its excellent cross-sectional structure without any obvious interface defects. The Bi₂Te₃/Sb₂Te₃ multilayer films were investigated by synchrotron x-ray scattering. An integrated device including 128×256 thermoelectric elements was fabricated from the multilayered film. An open-circuit voltage of 51 mV and a maximum power of 21 nW were produced from this 30 nm-thick Bi₂Te₃/Sb₂Te₃ multilayer TE device. We found that the nanoscale multilayer structure significantly affects the voltage and power produced. Lastly, the fabrication of the integrated thermoelectric devices is compatible to that of generating standard integrated circuits (ICs), and is scalable for producing higher voltage and power, or achieving solid-state cooling for on-chip applications.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0012704; AC02-98CH10886; SC00112704
• OSTI ID: 1473637
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1548227
• Report Number(s): BNL-209068-2018-JAAM
• Journal Information: Microelectronic Engineering, Vol. 197, Issue C; ISSN 0167-9317
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English