Effect of self-grown seed layer on thermoelectric properties of ZnO thin films

Abstract

The influence of self-grown seed has been studied on thermoelectric performance of 2% Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films. The thickness and orientation of c-axis domains in seed layer change on different substrates while other deposition conditions were kept unchanged for a comparable study. The changes occur because of the different nucleation process of thin film growth on substrate interface and the different lattice mismatch between AZO and substrate. Thin films are grown by pulsed laser deposition on single crystals (SrTiO3 (STO) and Al2O3) and cheap amorphous fused silica (FS) substrates at 400°C. All thin films are c-axis oriented. The grains are highly connected and elongated in shape which leads to high thermoelectric properties. The thicker self-grown seed layer is found in thin film deposited on FS substrates which shows best performance: electrical conductivity σ=93S/cm and Seebeck coefficient S=−203μV/K, which estimate power factor (S2.σ) about 0.37×10−3Wm−1K−2 at 600K. The value of thermal conductivity (κ) was found lowest (4.89Wm−1K−1) for thin film deposited on FS than the other thin films (6.9Wm−1K−1 on Al2O3 and 6.55Wm−1K−1 on STO) at 300K. The figure of merit, ZT=S2.σ.T/κ, is calculated 0.046 at 600K, 5 times larger than the ZT of our previous reported bulk AZO, which is promising for practical applications of thermoelectric oxide thin films.