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Correlation of Microstructural Properties With Thermoelectric Performance of Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 Films Fabricated by Electroplating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Elena Koukharenko
Affiliation:
ak@ecs.soton.ac.uk, University of Southampton, Electronics and Computer Science, Southampton, United Kingdom
Xiaohong Li
Affiliation:
Xh.Li@soton.ac.uk, University of Southampton, Department of Chemistry, Southampton, United Kingdom
Jekaterina Kuleshova
Affiliation:
J.Kuleshova@soton.ac.uk, University of Southampton, School of Chemistry, Southampton, United Kingdom
Marcel Fowler
Affiliation:
mf705@soton.ac.uk, University of Southampton, School of Physics and Astronomy, Southampton, United Kingdom
Nicole Frety
Affiliation:
nfrety@lpmc.univ-montp2.fr, Université Montpellier II, Institut Charles Gerhardt-Equipe PMOF, Montpellier, France
John M Tudor
Affiliation:
mjt@ecs.soton.ac.uk, University of Southampton, School of Electronics and Computer Science, Southampton, United Kingdom
Steven P Beeby
Affiliation:
spb@ecs.soton.ac.uk, University of Southampton, School of Electronics and Computer Science, Southampton, United Kingdom
Iris Nandhakumar
Affiliation:
iris@soton.ac.uk, University of Southampton, School of Chemistry, Southampton, United Kingdom
Neil M White
Affiliation:
nmw@ecs.soton.ac.uk, University of Southampton, School of Electronics and Computer Science, Southampton, United Kingdom
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Abstract

This study shows for the first time, the correlation between the microstructural properties (chemical composition and its homogeneity) and the thermoelectric properties for p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 electroplated films (10-15 μm thickness). High microstructural quality of Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 electroplated films (a close to stoichiometry chemical composition with its high homogeneity elements distribution) was achieved by using an additive in the plating solution (sodium ligninsulfonate) as a surfactant agent. A fine-grained microstructure of 280 nm to 1μm has been observed for these materials, which half that of the plated films without a surfactant. The thermoelectric properties of electrodeposited Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 films obtained without microstructural optimisation, show modest Seebeck coefficient values of 20-120 μm/K, electrodeposited film with an optimised microstructure exhibits very high values of Seebeck coefficient of 220-300 μm/K.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

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