Enhancing the thermoelectric properties of sputtered Sb2Te3 thick films via post-annealing treatment

Abstract

Sb2Te3 films of more than 10 μm in thickness were deposited on flexible polyimide substrates by heat treatment-assisted DC magnetron sputtering. The post-annealing parameters including the temperature (150–350 °C) and time (15–60 min) were varied to investigate the microstructure, chemical composition, porosity and thermoelectric properties of the thick films. X-ray diffraction showed that both the as-deposited and post-annealed films were polycrystalline with significant preferential growth along the (015) plane. The films showed slightly off-stoichiometric compositions after post-annealing treatment. Increasing the annealing temperature and annealing time led to an increase in crystalline size and a decrease in porosity of the thick films. This was related to grain growth, agglomeration and surface improvement. The electrical transport and thermoelectric properties including carrier concentration, carrier mobility, electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient were investigated using Hall effect measurements and a ZEM-3 apparatus. A maximum power factor of 1.7 mW/K2m was obtained following annealing at 350 °C for 30 min.