Effects of Sb Content (x) on (Bi_1−xSb_x)₂Te₃ Thermoelectric Thin Film Deposited by Effusion Cell Evaporator

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of the Sb content (x) on (Bi(1-x)Sb(x))2Te3 thermoelectric films with x changing widely from 0 (Sb2Te3) to 1 (Bi2Te3). First, the XRD analysis discloses that with the Sb content (x) increasing, the phase changed gradually from Bi2Te3 to Sb2Te3 as Sb atoms replaced substitutionally Bi atoms. Further microstructure analysis reveals that an extensive grain growth occurred during post-annealing for the samples with high Sb contents. According to the measurement of electrical and thermoelectric properties, the polarity of the charge carrier and Seebeck coefficient switched n-type to p-type in the range of x = 0.45~0.63. For the n-type samples, the power factor is highest when x = 0.18 around 46.01 μW/K(2) whereas Sb2Te3, for the p-type samples, shows the highest value, 62.48 μW/K(2)cm.