Thermoelectric Effect of Ga-Sn-O Thin Films for Internet-of-Things Application

Abstract

Thermoelectric effect of Ga-Sn-O (GTO) thin films has been investigated for Internet-of-Things application. It is found that the amorphous GTO thin films provide higher power factors (PF) than the polycrystalline ones, which is because grain boundaries block the electron conduction in the polycrystalline ones. It is also found that the GTO thin films annealed in vacuum provide higher PF than those annealed in air, which is because oxygen vacancies are terminated in those annealed in air. The PF and dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) is not so excellent, but the cost effectiveness is excellent, which is the most important for some examples of the Internet-of-Things application.

Memristor characteristics of a Ga–Al–O/Ga–Sn–O/Ga–Al–O stack device fabricated using mist chemical vapor deposition

“…[10][11][12] Because oxide semiconductors have superior electrical properties such as high mobility, low-leakage current, low-voltage operation, and the wide compatibility of processing such as sputtering 13,14) ink-jet printing, 15,16) and sol-gel method. 17,18) In particular, the authors focus on applications of amorphous Ga-Sn-O thin films, such as neuromorphic systems, [19][20][21] thermoelectric conversion devices, 22,23) and TFTs. 24,25) Because Ga-Sn-O thin films do not contain rare and precious materials such as Indium, they have a possibility for solving industrial problems such as supply shortages and resource scarcity.…”