Both n- and p-type bismuth telluride thin films have been deposited by co-e
vaporator on glass substrates. The conditions for deposition have been inve
stigated as a function of substrate temperature (T-s) and flux ratio (F-r =
F(Bi)/F(Te)) and optimised to achieve a high thermoelectric power factor.
The quality of the deposited films, e.g. structure, composition and morphol
ogy, has been examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray
analysis (EDXA), and atomic force microscope (AFM). The thermoelectric prop
erties of the thin films have been studied by room-temperature measurement
of the Seebeck coefficient, Hall coefficient and electrical resistivity. Bo
th the crystallinity and the transport properties have been found to be str
ongly affected by nonstoichiometry with the highly stoichiometric samples e
xhibiting a high crystallinity and high thermoelectric power factor. It has
been observed that the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of
n-type (alpha (n), sigma (n)) and p-type (alpha (p), sigma (p)) bismuth tel
luride films were found to be about -228 muV/K, 0.77 x 10(3)Ohm (-1)cm(-1)
and 81 muV/K, 3.1 x 10(3)Ohm (-1)cm(-1). respectively. The results indicate
that the good quality bismuth telluride thin films grown by co-evaporator
in both p- and n-type are promising candidates for use in micro-Peltier mod
ules. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.