Nanostructured Telluride Films on Macroporous Silicon for High Efficiency Thermoelectric Devices

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ABSTRACTWe propose using macroporous silicon as an ultra-high aspect ratio scaffolding for epitaxially grown thermoelectric materials, so that thin films can be shaped into materials thick enough for practical devices. The self-limiting nature of atomic layer deposition (ALD) makes it an ideal growth technique for this substrate, as uniform thickness can be obtained at all points inside the macroporous structure, and we demonstrate successful deposition of antimony telluride on pore walls using ALD. Extension of this work to telluride superlattices should enable fabrication of thermoelectric devices with figures of merit (ZT) in excess of 2. Characterization of the thermoelectric and other properties of ALD grown telluride on silicon is ongoing.