Abstract
In this paper, the electric and thermoelectric properties of thin films of germanium–gold alloy (Ge–Au) are discussed in terms of choosing the optimal deposition process and post-processing conditions to obtain Ge–Au layers with the best thermoelectric parameters. Thin films were fabricated by magnetron sputtering using the Ge–Au alloy target onto glass substrates at two various conditions; during one of the sputtering processes, the external substrate bias voltage (Ub = −150 V) was used. After deposition thin films were annealed in the atmosphere of N2 at various temperatures (473, 523 and 573 K) to investigate the influence of annealing temperature on the electric and thermoelectric properties of films. Afterwards, the thermocouples were created by deposition of the NiCrSi/Ag contact pads onto Ge–Au films. In this work, particular attention has been paid to thermoelectric properties of fabricated thin films—the thermoelectric voltage, Seebeck coefficient, power factor PF and dimensionless figure of merit ZT were determined.
Highlights
The gradual depletion of non-renewable sources of energy with the simultaneous growing demand for electricity is becoming a huge problem of the modern word
This paper presents research on the electric and thermoelectric properties of one of the most promising thermoelectric materials—semiconductive thin films of germanium–gold alloy
The total energy totemperature, the atoms and the morphology andadatoms microstructure thin film, depends on: thesupplied substrate final working pressure in the and microstructure of thin film, depends on: the substrate temperature, final working pressure vacuum chamber, bias voltage applied to the substrate, and thermal characteristics of the target. in
Summary
The gradual depletion of non-renewable sources of energy with the simultaneous growing demand for electricity is becoming a huge problem of the modern word. One of the alternative ideas for sourcing electric energy is the use of waste heat, which is lost, among other things, in high-energy industrial and production processes. It is estimated, that about 66% of the generated heat is not used in any way, and the ability to convert even a fraction of this heat into electricity could be one of the solutions for the global energy crisis, or at least powering the microelectronic components, Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) or Nano-Electro-Mechanical System (NEMS) in Internet of Things (IoT) networks [4,5,6]. Thermoelectricity is one of the simplest methods for thermal energy conversion—thermoelectric generators (TEGs) can be integrated into existing industrial equipment and processes; they have no movable parts, exhibit a direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion mechanism, and are scalable from milliwatts to kilowatts [7,8,9]. Microgenerators are built from a series connection of several (or several dozen) thermocouples; single thermocouples consist of materials which should exhibit very good thermoelectric properties [12,13]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
