Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties of Cu₂Se Flexible Thin Films by Optimizing Growth Temperature and Elemental Composition

Abstract

As an emerging semiconductor, environmentally friendly thermoelectric material, Cu2Se has drawn great attention due to its outstanding thermoelectric performance. In this work, Cu2Se-based thin films were deposited on a flexible polyimide substrate by magnetron sputtering technique via in-situ growth method. The effect of growth temperature and Cu composition was investigated. The results indicate that the thin films grown at 200 °C have high electrical conductivity due to their high carrier mobility. Further adjusting of Cu composition can achieve highly (0l0)-preferred orientation Cu2Se-based thin films with optimized carrier concentration, resulting in an increase in Seebeck coefficient and further leading to the enhancement of power factor.

Precise synthesis of copper selenide nanowires with tailored Cu vacancies through photo-induced reduction for thermoelectric applications

“…Cu 2+x Se NW samples exhibited comparable S 2 s to that of the polycrystalline lms fabricated at higher temperature. [48][49][50] The achievement of the high S 2 s despite low-temperature fabrication is attributed to the precise synthesis of Cu 2+x Se NWs with various amounts of Cu vacancies. The S 2 s values also followed the temperature trend of epitaxial lms (Fig.…”

Electrochemistry of Thin Films and Nanostructured Materials

“…The applications of thin films are very extensive and cover metallic conductive layers in silicon integrated circuits and integrated electronics [ 24 , 35 ], thin layers covering glasses in smart windows that transmit visible light, and reflect UV and infrared light [ 21 , 36 ], thin foils for magnetic recording, data storage, and logic circuits [ 22 , 37 , 38 ], transparent semiconductor layers in solar cells and photovoltaics [ 15 , 39 ], thin films in Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors [ 40 , 41 ], thin catalytic and electrocatalytic films for water electrolysis, wastewater treatment, and detecting chemical compounds [ 42 , 43 ], thin films protecting against corrosion, friction, and wear on parts of car and aircraft engines (pistons, cylinders, turbine blades, etc.) [ 44 , 45 ], and many others [ 46 , 47 ].…”