High Seebeck coefficient in thermally evaporated Sb-In co-alloyed bismuth telluride thin film

In the present work, we have obtained high magnitudes of the Seebeck coefficient in Sb and In coalloyed bismuth telluride thin film that has been deposited by a simple and cost-efficient thermal evaporation procedure. The films display an exceptional peak Seebeck coefficient of −310 μV/K at the working temperature of 90 °C. In addition to this, a high value of −191.6 μV/K is obtained at room temperature along with appreciable conductivity (6.2 × 103 S/m). The x-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of the film has been analyzed for probing the crystal profile that depicts a polycrystalline and nanoscale structure. Films’ surface and cross-sectional morphologies are investigated using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), where a nanocrystalline morphology of thickness 150 nm is observed. Raman analysis supports the results obtained from XRD and FESEM for nanomorphology and indicates the presence of Te segregates. Atomic composition of the film produced is probed using Energy Dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, which also indicates the presence of excess Te. The Seebeck coefficient of the films shows an enormous enhancement as compared to previously reported work for undoped samples (BST-100S). The magnitudes of the Seebeck coefficient obtained in the present work are among the highest values reported for a bismuth antimony telluride material. These enhancements are attributed to the combined effect of coalloying, the presence of highly mobile (00l) orientations, and confinement effects of a nanocrystalline profile.