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Enhancement in Thermoelectric Properties of Cubic Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 Thin Films by Introducing Structural Disorder
Author(s) -
Kumar Manish,
Voraud Athorn,
Seetawan Tosawat,
Han Jeon Geon
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201500296
Subject(s) - seebeck coefficient , thermoelectric effect , materials science , thermoelectric materials , superlattice , thin film , thermal conductivity , electrical resistivity and conductivity , condensed matter physics , phase (matter) , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , composite material , thermodynamics , chemistry , physics , engineering , organic chemistry , electrical engineering
Thermoelectric performances are usually enhanced by minimizing the thermal conductivity of materials, either by introducing superlattice structures or nanostructuring. Here, a new approach to performance enhancement, based on Seebeck coefficient improvement, is presented for Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 thin films. The electron temperature was controlled by using pulsed direct current (DC) plasma power, and the resulting structural disorder of the cubic crystalline phase enhanced the Seebeck coefficients, as supported by molecular orbital calculations. Our results demonstrate a room‐temperature Seebeck coefficient of 190.8 μV K −1 for 200 nm films deposited on glass.