Fabrication and characterization of nanostructured III-V thermoelectric materials

Published

September 26, 2013

Author(s)

Clint J. Novotny, Fred Sharifi

Abstract

Approximately two thirds of all fossil fuel used is lost as heat. Thermoelectric materials, which convert heat into electrical energy, may provide a solution to partially recover some of this lost energy. To date, most commercial thermoelectric materials are too inefficient to be a viable option for most waste heat applications. This research proposes to investigate the fabrication and characterization of nanostructured III-V semiconductor thermoelectric materials with the goal of increasing the performance of existing technology. In order to improve thermoelectric material efficiency, either the lattice thermal conductivity must be lowered or the thermoelectric power factor must be increased. This research will focus on the latter by modifying the density of states of the semiconductor material and studying the effect of quantum confinement on the material’s thermoelectric properties. Using focused ion beam milling, nanostructured cantilevers are fabricated from single crystal wafers. An all-around gate dielectric and electrode are deposited to create a depletion region along the outer core of the cantilever, thus creating an inner conductive core. The Seebeck coefficient can then be measured as a function of confinement by varying the gate voltage. This technique can be applied to various material systems to investigate the effects of confinement on their thermoelectric properties.

Proceedings Title

Nanoengineering: Fabrication, Properties, Optics, and Devices X

Volume

8816

Conference Dates

August 25-29, 2013

Conference Location

San Diego, CA

Conference Title

SPIE NanoScience + Engineering

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Thermoelectrics, nanofabrication, focused ion beam, nanostructures, semiconductor

Citation

Novotny, C. and Sharifi, F. (2013), Fabrication and characterization of nanostructured III-V thermoelectric materials, Nanoengineering: Fabrication, Properties, Optics, and Devices X, San Diego, CA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=914496 (Accessed December 16, 2024)