High Seebeck coefficient in PVD-WS2 film with grain size enlargement

Author(s):  
Takuya Hamada ◽  
Masaya Hamada ◽  
Taiga Horiguchi ◽  
Iriya Muneta ◽  
Kuniyuki Kakushima ◽  
...  

Abstract A high Seebeck coefficient of 1.17 × 103 μV/K was achieved using an on-chip thermoelectric device for a WS2 atomic-layer film, which was synthesized by ultra-high vacuum RF-magnetron sputtering as a function of sputtering power. A layered structure in parallel to SiO2/Si substrate was confirmed from the transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction spectra. The grain size and peak intensities of the Raman spectra increase with a decrease in the sputtering power. Accordingly, the resistivity and activation energy also increase. This WS2 film can be used in thermoelectric generators, such as energy harvesters in LSIs and wearable devices.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji Liu ◽  
Michael Nolan

<div>In the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Cobalt (Co) and Ruthenium (Ru) metal using nitrogen plasma, the structure and composition of the post N-plasma NHx terminated (x = 1 or 2) metal surfaces are not well known but are important in the subsequent metal containing pulse. In this paper, we use the low-index (001) and (100) surfaces of Co and Ru as models of the metal polycrystalline thin films. The (001) surface with a hexagonal surface structure is the most stable surface and the (100) surface with a zigzag structure is the least stable surface but has high reactivity. We investigate the stability of NH and NH2 terminations on these surfaces to determine the saturation coverage of NHx on Co and Ru. NH is most stable in the hollow hcp site on (001) surface and the bridge site on the (100) surface, while NH2 prefers the bridge site on both (001) and (100) surfaces. The differential energy is calculated to find the saturation coverage of NH and NH2. We also present results on mixed NH/NH2-terminations. The results are analyzed by thermodynamics using Gibbs free energies (ΔG) to reveal temperature effects on the stability of NH and NH2 terminations. Ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and standard ALD</div><div>operating conditions are considered. Under typical ALD operating conditions we find that the most stable NHx terminated metal surfaces are 1 ML NH on Ru (001) surface (350K-550K), 5/9 ML NH on Co (001) surface (400K-650K) and a mixture of NH and NH2 on both Ru (100) and Co (100) surfaces.</div>


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pornsiri Wanarattikan ◽  
Piya Jitthammapirom ◽  
Rachsak Sakdanuphab ◽  
Aparporn Sakulkalavek

In this work, stoichiometric Sb2Te3 thin films with various thicknesses were deposited on a flexible substrate using RF magnetron sputtering. The grain size and thickness effects on the thermoelectric properties, such as the Seebeck coefficient (S), electrical conductivity (σ), power factor (PF), and thermal conductivity (k), were investigated. The results show that the grain size was directly related to film thickness. As the film thickness increased, the grain size also increased. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity corresponded to the grain size of the films. The mean free path of carriers increases as the grain size increases, resulting in a decrease in the Seebeck coefficient and increase in electrical conductivity. Electrical conductivity strongly affects the temperature dependence of PF which results in the highest value of 7.5 × 10−4 W/m·K2 at 250°C for film thickness thicker than 1 µm. In the thermal conductivity mechanism, film thickness affects the dominance of phonons or carriers. For film thicknesses less than 1 µm, the behaviour of the phonons is dominant, while both are dominant for film thicknesses greater than 1 µm. Control of the grain size and film thickness is thus critical for controlling the performance of Sb2Te3 thin films.


1999 ◽  
Vol 557 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Scholz ◽  
D. Peros ◽  
M. Böhm

AbstractThis work presents first results of potential manufacturing processes for integrated series connected hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film solar modules and/or pindiode/TFT based macroelectronic circuits on flexible tapes. A RTR (Reel-To-Reel) deposition system on laboratory scale has been built, The system consists of seven metal sealed LIHV stinless steel chambers to obtain ultra high vacuum as a basis for high quality a-Si:H layers, in order to support continuous movement of the tape in the RTR process the chambers cannot be isolated from each other. The necessary pressure difference between the sputtering chambers and the PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) chambers is provided by pressure stages. They are optimized for high molecular flow resistance without any influence on the moving substrate tape. The back metal contacts and the semitransparent TCO (Transparent Conductive Oxide) contacts are deposited by rf magnetron sputtering, the a-Si:H film system is deposited by PECVD. Parallel to the film deposition a Nd:YAG laser patterning system is coupled into one chamber. This allows for instance a total manufacturing of integrated series connected solar modules in one system without breaking the vacuum. Our present investigations focus on the deposition of doped and intrinsic high quality a-Si:H based layers in neighboring chambers. The quality of semiconducting films deposited in adjacent chambers is studied with regard to potential contamination effects.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Gorey ◽  
Yang Dai ◽  
Scott Anderson ◽  
Sungsik Lee ◽  
Sungwon Lee ◽  
...  

In heterogeneous catalysis, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been developed as a tool to stabilize and reduce carbon deposition on supported nanoparticles. Here, we discuss use of high vacuum ALD to deposit alumina films on size-selected, sub-nanometer Pt/SiO2 model catalysts. Mass-selected Pt24 clusters were deposited on oxidized Si(100), to form model Pt24/SiO2 catalysts with particles shown to be just under 1 nm, with multilayer three dimensional structure. Alternating exposures to trimethylaluminum and water vapor in an ultra-high vacuum chamber were used to grow alumina on the samples without exposing them to air. The samples were probed in situ using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS), and CO temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). Additional samples were prepared for ex situ experiments using grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering spectroscopy (GISAXS). Alumina growth is found to initiate at least 60 times more efficiently at the Pt24 cluster sites, compared to bare SiO2/Si, with a single ALD cycle depositing a full alumina layer on top of the clusters, with substantial additional alumina growth initiating on SiO2 sites surrounding the clusters. As a result, the clusters were completely passivated, with no exposed Pt binding sites.


1999 ◽  
Vol 557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshihiro Kamei ◽  
Akihisa Matsuda

AbstractWe have developed a new type of ultra-high vacuum plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (UHV/PECVD) system. According to high sensitivity secondary ion mass spectrometry, device quality hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films deposited at 250°C at a deposition rate of 1 Å/s contains 1015 cm-3 of O, 1015 cm-3 of C, and 1014 cm-3 of N impurities, while low defect hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) films deposited at 200°C at a very low rate of 0.1 Å/s include 1016 cm-3 of O, 1015 cm-3 of C and 1016 cm-3 of N. These are the lowest concentrations of atmospheric contaminants for these kinds of materials observed so far. The essential features of the present UHV/PECVD system are an extremely low outgassing rate of 8×10-9 Torr·s, extremely low partial pressure of contaminant gas species <10-12 Torn, and purification of feed gas SiH4 at “point of use”. These efforts are quite important not only for clarifying the microscopic mechanism of photo-induced degradation in a-Si:H, but also for enlarging the crystalline grain size in μc-Si:H. μc-Si:H with a grain size of ≍1000 Å as determined by Scherrer's formula can be obtained at the higher rate of 1.5 Å/s by utilizing a VHF (Very High Frequency) plasma. The specific origins of impurities in the films are also discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 260-261 ◽  
pp. 34-39
Author(s):  
Min Hee Hong ◽  
Chang Sun Park ◽  
Yong June Choi ◽  
Hong Sup Lee ◽  
Hyung Ho Park

The efficiency of a thermoelectric device depends on material properties through the figure of merit, Z = σS2/κ, where σ, S, and κ are electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity, respectively. To maximize the thermoelectric figure of merit of a material, high electrical conductivity, high Seebeck coefficient, and low thermal conductivity are required. This work has focused on the synthesis of a mesoporous titania films for its application in thermoelectric generation. The mesoporous titania film was synthesized with titanium tetraisopropoxide. The triblock copolymer, Pluronic P-123 (EO20PO70EO20) was used as surfactant in 1-propanol. As a result, an improvement of electrical conductivity and reduced annealing with a lowering of thermal conductivity by distributions of pores were found to be effective to enhance the thermoelectric property.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-23
Author(s):  
Y. Eren Suyolcu ◽  
Gennady Logvenov

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) is a high-vacuum technique with atomic-layer control and precision. It is based on the chemical reaction of the atoms, molecules, or atomic clusters vaporized from the specific evaporation sources on the substrates. The molecular beam defines a unidirectional ballistic flow of atoms and/or molecules without any collisions amongst. In the late 1960s, MBE was initially developed for the growth of GaAs and (Al, Ga)As systems[1,2] due to the unprecedented capabilities and then was applied to study other material systems. MBE growth is conventionally performed in vacuum and ultra-high vacuum (UHV) (10-8–10-12 mbar) conditions.


Author(s):  
Baptiste Chatelain ◽  
Ali El Barraj ◽  
Clémence Badie ◽  
Lionel Santinacci ◽  
Clemens Barth

Abstract The characterization of charges in oxide supported metal nanoparticles (NP) is of high interest in research fields like heterogeneous catalysis and microelectronics. A general desire is to manipulate the charge of an oxide supported single NP and to characterize afterwards the charge and its interference with the insulating support but also with nearby NPs in the vicinity. By using noncontact AFM (nc-AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and at room temperature we show that a ~5 nm small AuNP can be directly charged with electrons by the AFM tip and that upon the charging, nearby AuNPs sensitively change their electrostatic potential with a large impact on the charge detection by nc-AFM and KPFM. The AuNPs are supported on a 40 nm thick insulating Al2O3 film, which is grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Si(001). Due to Coulomb blockades, the NP charging appears in the form of large and discrete peaks in detuning versus bias voltage curves. Finite element method (FEM) calculations reveal that the large peaks can only be observed when the potentials of nearby insulated NPs get modified by the NP's electron charge, according to the electrostatic induction principle. In view of the number of transferred electrons, we anticipate that after the charging, the electrons are transferred from the AuNP to the NP-Al2O3 interface or into Al2O3 subsurface regions directly underneath.


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