Thermoelectric properties of nanocrystalline Bi3Se2Te thin films grown using pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

This study reports the material and thermoelectric properties of n-type nanocrystalline Bi-Se-Te thin films grown using pulse laser deposition (PLD) with a Bi2Se2Te single crystal as the target. In order to optimize the transport and thermoelectric properties, Bi-Se-Te thin films are fabricated by maintaining the substrate temperature (T-S) between 200 and 350 degrees C and a helium gas pressure (P-He) from 0.027 to 86.7 Pa. Unlike the target, all deposited films unexpectedly exhibit Bi2Se2Te phase with highly c-axis orientation, because of the high re-evaporation rates of Se and Te at the elevated T-S >= 200 degrees C. The estimated grain (crystalline) size ranges between 18.4 and 39.4 nm, and this monotonically increases as TS increases. The Bi3Se2Te films demonstrate excellent electrical conductivities owning to the high carrier concentration in the order of 10(20) cm(-3). A window of deposition conditions for high thermoelectric power factors (PF) is T-S of 250-350 degrees C and P-He of 40 Pa. The optimal PF is 8.3 mu W/cmK(2) for the Bi3Se2Te film prepared at 250 degrees C and 40 Pa. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.