Annealing Effect on Seebeck Coefficient of SiGe Thin Films Deposited on Quartz Substrate

Abstract

Over the past few years, thermoelectrics have gained interest with regard to thermoelectricity interconversion. The improvement in the efficiency of the thermoelectric material at an ambient temperature is the main problem of research. In this work, silicon–germanium (SiGe) thin films, owing to superior properties such as nontoxicity, high stability, and their integrability with silicon technologies, were studied for thermoelectric applications. P-type SiGe thin films were deposited on quartz substrates by DC/RF magnetron sputtering and annealed at three different temperatures for 1 hour. Significant enhancement in the Seebeck coefficient was achieved for the sample annealed at 670 °C. A high power factor of 4.1 μWcm−1K−2 was obtained at room temperature.

Advancing Thermoelectric Materials: A Comprehensive Review Exploring the Significance of One-Dimensional Nano Structuring

“…( c ) Schematic illustrating the Seebeck measuring device of the vertical TE thin film generator “Reproduced with permission from [ 343 ], Elsevier, 2019”. ( d ) Schematic illustrating in-plane Seebeck measuring device for TE thin film generator “Reproduced with permission from [ 347 ], MDPI, 2021”. ( e ) Schematic illustrating of the 3ω method for measuring thermal conductivity for thin films “Reproduced with permission from [ 344 ], AIP, 2018”.…”