Abstract
Electrodeposition of thermoelectric materials, including binary and ternary compounds, have been attracting attentions, because its many advantages including cost-effectiveness, rapid deposition rate, and ease of control their microstructure and crystallinity by adjusting electrodeposition parameters. In this work, $Bi_xTe_y$ films were potentiostatically electrodeposited using Au/Ni(80/20 nm)/Si substrate as the working electrode in solutions consisting of 10mM $TeO_2$ and 1M $HNO_3$ where $Bi(NO_3)_3$ was varied from 2.5 to 10 mM. Prior to electrodeposition potentiostatically, linear sweep voltammograms (LSV) were acquired with a standard three-electrode cell. The $Bi_xTe_y$ films deposited using the electrolyte containing low Bi ions shows p-type conductivity, which might be attributed by the large incorporation of Te phases. Near stoichiometric $Bi_2Te_3$ thin films were obtained from electrolytes containing 5mM $Bi(NO_3)_3$. This film shows the maximum Seebeck coefficient of $-100.3{\pm}12.7{\mu}V/K$. As the increase of Bi ions in electrolytes decreases the Seebeck coefficient and resistivity. The maximum power factor of $336.2{\mu}W/m{\cdot}K^2$ was obtained from the film deposited using the solution of 7.5mM $Bi(NO_3)_3$.
