Influences of annealing temperature on the thermoelectric properties of thin film thermocouples based on a flexible substrate by RF magnetron sputtering

WRe26-In2O3 (WRe26 (tungsten-26% rhenium) and In2O3 thermoelectric materials) thin film thermocouples (TFTCs) have been fabricated based on magnetron sputtering technology, which can be used in temperature measurement. Many annealing processes were studied to promote the sensitivity of WRe26-In2O3 TFTCs. The optimal annealing process of the thermocouple under this kind of RF magnetron sputtering method was proposed after analyzing the properties of In2O3 films and the thermoelectric voltage of TFTCs at different annealing processes. The calibration results showed that the WRe26-In2O3 TFTCs achieved a thermoelectric voltage of 123.6 mV at a temperature difference of 612.9 K, with a sensitivity of up to 201.6 µV/K. Also, TFTC kept a stable thermoelectric voltage output at 973 K for 20 min and at 773 K for two hours. In general, the WRe26-In2O3 TFTCs developed in this work have great potential for practical applications. In future work, we will focus on the thermoelectric stability of TFTCs at higher temperatures.

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Impact of Magnetron Sputtering Parameters on Thermoelectric Properties of Tungsten-Rhenium Thin Film Thermocouples Sensor

IEEE Sensors Journal ◽

10.1109/jsen.2018.2874078 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1-1 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Zhongkai Zhang ◽

Bian Tian ◽

Zhe Du ◽

Qijing Lin ◽

Na Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Magnetron Sputtering ◽

Thermoelectric Properties ◽

Thin Film Thermocouples

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Thermoelectric Characteristics of Silicon Carbide and Tungsten-Rhenium-Based Thin-Film Thermocouples Sensor with Protective Coating Layer by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma12121981 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 1981 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Zhongkai Zhang ◽

Bian Tian ◽

Yan Liu ◽

Zhe Du ◽

Qijing Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Silicon Carbide ◽

Magnetron Sputtering ◽

Temperature Difference ◽

Protective Coating ◽

Coating Layer ◽

Response Speed ◽

Rf Magnetron Sputtering ◽

Junction Temperature ◽

Thin Film Thermocouples

A thin-film thermocouples (TFTCs) sensor based on silicon carbide substrate, 95 wt% tungsten–5 wt% rhenium (W-5Re) and 74 wt% tungsten–26 wt% rhenium (W-26Re) thermosensitive part with aluminum oxide protective coating layer was designed and fabricated by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. It exhibited a high thermoelectric voltage of 35.51 mV when the temperature difference was 1240 °C (the hot junction temperature was 1420 °C), with an average Seebeck coefficient of 28.63 µV/°C, which was 27% larger than the standard C-type thermocouple wires at the same temperature difference. The repeatability error was ±4.1%, the drift rate was 9.6 °C/h for 10 h and the laser response time was 0.36 ms. Compared to the traditional thermocouple, it could provide long-term temperature testing within 1420 °C for the requirement of high-temperature measurement and high response speed.

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