Thermoelectric properties of the bismuth–antimony–telluride and the antimony–telluride films processed by electrodeposition for micro-device applications

Thermoelectric Characteristics of the Thermopile Sensors with Variations of the Width and the Thickness of the Electrodeposited Bismuth-Telluride and Antimony-Telluride Thin Films

“…However, the composition of the Sb-Te film changed with variation of the film thickness. As the reversible potential of the HTeO 2 þ /Te reaction is much more positive than the SbO þ /Sb reaction, 11,20) the electrodeposition rate of Te is faster than that of the Sb during electroplating at 20 mV. As the deposition rate of Sb was independent of the concentration of the SbO þ and the HTeO 2 þ ions in the electrodeposition solution, 20) the HTeO 2 þ ions would be consumed faster than the SbO þ ions with progress of electrodeposition, resulting in gradual change of the film composition with increasing the film thickness.…”

“…10) As Bi 2 Te 3 and Sb 2 Te 3 are narrow band-gap semiconductors with superior thermoelectric characteristics at room temperature, various works have been performed to utilize thin films of Bi 2 Te 3 and Sb 2 Te 3 for thermopile sensors. 2,6,11,12) While various processing techniques such as evaporation, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, molecular beam epitaxy, and electrodeposition can be used for thermoelectric thin-film fabrication, electrodeposition is attractive because it is a rapid and low-cost method as well as a low-temperature process. 2,5,6,[12][13][14][15][16] While various works were carried out for thermopile sensors of cross-plane configuration, 6,[17][18][19] a thermopile sensor of in-plane configuration has its advantage in fabrication because of easy formation of in-plane thin-film legs by using electrodeposition.…”

Thermoelectric Thin Film Device of Cross-Plane Configuration Processed by Electrodeposition and Flip-Chip Bonding

“…The composition of the electrodeposited SbTe films, similar to the BiTe films, was not affected by the film thickness, as listed in Table 1. Even though the SbO + /Sb reaction has more negative redox potential than that of the HTeO 2 + /Te reaction, 18,19) the galvanostatically electrodeposited SbTe films exhibited slightly Sb-rich compositions from the Sb 2 Te 3 stoichiometry. This could be due to the fact that the SbTe films were electrodeposited in an electrolyte with a very high Sb/(Sb + Te) mole ratio of 0.9.…”

An Overview of Advanced Chalcogenide Thermo- electric Materials and Their Applications

“…The same TE device can be used for heating or cooling and can cool below 273 K. The modules are relatively small in size and weight [10] and can be mounted in any orientation as they are not position dependent [9] . With ever increasing power and packaging density of electronic devices, thermal management has become one of the major issues to ensure the performance and reliability of electronic devices [11] . TE micro-coolers using thin film proce-sses can be an effective solution to thermal manage-ment of electronic devices due to their advantages, such as large cooling power density inversely propor-tional to the thin-film thickness, compatibility with electronic device fabrication and short response time.…”

“…TE micro-coolers using thin film proce-sses can be an effective solution to thermal manage-ment of electronic devices due to their advantages, such as large cooling power density inversely propor-tional to the thin-film thickness, compatibility with electronic device fabrication and short response time. While various processing techniques can be used for TE thin-film fabrication, electrodeposition is more attractive because it is a rapid and inexpensive method [11] . Furthermore, TE devices are quiet in operation and do not release emissions and can be considered an environmentally friendly technology [10] .…”