Single-crystal SnSe exhibits extremely high thermoelectric properties, and fabrication of SnSe films is promising for practical application and basic research on properties. However, the high thermoelectric properties have not yet been reported in SnSe films and their thermoelectric properties and nanostructure have not yet been analyzed in detail. In the present study, a-axis-oriented epitaxial SnSe films were prepared to discuss the thermoelectric properties of the SnSe films. While the electrical conductivity of the films was orders of magnitude smaller than that in the single crystals at room temperature, surprisingly, the thermoelectric property (power factor) of the films was slightly higher than that in the single crystals at high temperatures (∼300 °C). The SnSe films contained orthorhombic domain boundaries with a spacing of several hundred nanometers. The orthorhombic domain boundaries caused carrier scattering and degraded the mobility of the films at room temperature, but their effect decreased with increasing temperature. Thus, the carrier scattering at domain boundaries results in characteristic temperature dependence of thermoelectric properties in the SnSe films. High thermoelectric properties at high temperatures were successfully achieved in the SnSe films in spite of the existence of domain boundaries, demonstrating the possibility of high-performance of SnSe thermoelectric films.

Thermoelectric SnSe exhibits a very high figure of merit, and the a-axis orientation is needed because a high thermoelectric property is obtained along the bcplane. Here, in spite of the amorphous nature of glass, a-axis-oriented SnSe films were fabricated using pulsed laser deposition on a glass substrate, which is more practical than single-crystal oxide substrates. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that aaxis-oriented SnSe films with a columnar grain structure grew on amorphous SiO 2 . The electrical conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient at room temperature showed almost the same trend with respect to the hole concentration in both the SnSe/glass and SnSe/ single-crystal-substrate films. The electrical conductivity increased with increasing temperature more slowly in SnSe/glass films than in SnSe/single-crystal-substrate films. This indicates that the grain boundary contribution to carrier scattering is significant at high temperatures, while the grain boundary contribution is as strong as the orthorhombic domain boundary contribution at room temperature. In spite of the grain boundary effect, the power factor in SnSe/ glass was as high as that for single-crystal SnSe at high temperatures. Considering the grain boundary effect on electrical conductivity, the structure and process of SnSe films on amorphous substrates should be designed.