Structure and thermoelectric properties of PbTe films deposited by thermal evaporation method

Abstract

Lead telluride (PbTe) thin films have been deposited on SiO 2 substrate using thermal evaporation method. The structure of the films was found to have a face-centered cubic (fcc) with predominant grain growth in the (200) direction for both as-deposited and annealed samples up to 350 °C in vacuum for 1 h. The in-plain electrical resistivity and Hall measurements via van der Pauw method as a function of annealed temperatures were measured. It was found that increasing the annealing temperature led to increase in grain size, which in turn caused decrease of electrical resistivity and increase of Seebeck coefficient. The high power factor of 141.0 µWm−1K−2 was obtained for the annealed samples at 350 °C in vacuum for 1 h.