Epitaxial growth and thermoelectric properties of TiNiSn and Zr0.5Hf0.5NiSn thin films

Thermoelectric Properties of Amorphous Zr-Ni-Sn Thin Films Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering

“…In general, r increases with increase of the sputtering power, and the sample deposited at 80 W has the smallest r. The electrical conductivity of our Zr-Ni-Sn films is larger than those of other M-Ni-Sn thin films. 21,22 32. Although the r of the sample prepared at 80 W is the smallest among the four samples, its power factor S 2 r becomes the largest when the temperature reaches 393 K owing to its maximum S, as shown in Fig.…”

“…The largest value of S 2 r is 2.66 mW K À2 m À1 at 393 K, which is larger than those of other M-Ni-Sn films because both S and r of this sample are enhanced. 21,22 In addition, for the samples deposited at 120 W and 140 W, the power factors decrease with increasing T due to the reduction of S.…”

“…[17][18][19] MNiSn-based HH thin films have also been synthesized by magnetron sputtering or electron beam deposition, exhibiting a largest Seebeck coefficient and power factor on the order of tens of lV K À1 and on the order of 0.1 mW K À2 m À1 , respectively. [20][21][22] The reliable ZT values of crystalline HH materials have been limited to around 1.0 so far, mainly due to the high thermal conductivity of HH compounds. 23 Provided that the microstructure of a thermoelectric material is amorphous, the lattice thermal conductivity j l of the material can be minimized and the total thermal conductivity j can be greatly reduced, which hence should enhance the ZT value.…”

Magnetron sputtering of (TiZr)NiSn thin films on different substrates for thermoelectric applications

“…This paper describes magnetron sputtering of (TiZr)NiSn on different substrates, including Si wafers, for the first time. Deposition of such films on MgO led to a slightly smaller Seebeck coefficient than bulk specimens [4], but our intention is to measure the difference when deposited on metallic substrates.…”

A p-type Heusler compound: Growth, structure, and properties of epitaxial thin NiYBi films on MgO(100)

“…In this work, semiconducting NiYBi films were produced and investigated. Such films are expected to be good candidates for nanostructured thermoelectrics 4,5 The epitaxially grown films were investigated with respect to composition, crystalline structure, transport properties and electronic structure. Concerning the latter, hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) is a powerful method for probing both chemical states and bulk electronic structures of thin films and buried layers in a non-destructive way 7 .…”