Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films with promising thermoelectric properties

Joana Loureiro, Tiago Mateus, Sergej Filonovich, Marisa Ferreira, Joana Figueira, Alexandra Rodrigues, Brian F. Donovan, Patrick E. Hopkins, Isabel Maria Mercês Ferreira

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The search for materials with suitable thermoelectric properties that are environmentally friendly and abundant led us to investigate p- and n-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) thin films, produced by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The Seebeck coefficient and power factor were measured at room temperature showing optimized values of 512 µV K−1 and 3.6 × 10−5 W m−1 K−2, for p-type, and −188 µV K−1 and 2.2 × 10−4 W m−1 K−2, for n-type thin films. The thermoelectric output power of one nc-Si:H pair of both n- and p-type materials is ~91 µW per material cm3, for a thermal gradient of 8 K. The output voltage and current values show a linear dependence with the number of pairs interconnected in series and/or parallel and show good integration performance.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1497-1502
Number of pages6
JournalApplied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing
Volume120
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Sept 2015

Keywords

  • THERMAL-CONDUCTIVITY
  • SEEBECK COEFFICIENT
  • SIZE

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