Thin films thermoelectric module fabricated by pulsed-dc magnetron sputtering system using Ca3Co4O9(p-type) and ZnO (n-type) targets of 60 mm diameter and 2.5 mm thickness, which were made from powder precursor, and obtained by solid state reaction. Thin films of p-Ca-Co-O (Seebeck coefficient = 143.85 µV/K, electrical resistivity = 4.80 mΩm, power factor = 4.31 µW/m K2) and n-ZnO (Seebeck coefficient =229.24 µV/K, electrical resistivity = 5.93 mΩm, power factor = 8.86 µW/m K2) were used to make a thermoelectric module, which consist of four pairs of legs connected by copper electrodes (0.5 mm thickness, 3.0 mm width, and 3.0-8.0 mm length). Each leg is 3.0 mm width, 20.0 mm length, and 0.44 µm thickness on a glass substrate of 1.0 mm thickness in dimension 25.0x50.0 mm2. For preliminary test, a module was used to thermoelectric power generation. It was found that the open circuit voltage increased with increasing temperature difference from 3 mV at 5 K up to 20 mV at 78 K. The internal resistance of a module reached a value of 14.52 MΩ. This test indicated that a module can be generated the electrical power. Therefore, it can be used as an important platform for further thin films thermoelectric module research.
High thermoelectric power factor of p-type amorphous silicon thin films dispersed with ultrafine silicon nanocrystals
