• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1135-1140
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• 2008

Bismuth-telluride based thin film materials are grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition(MOCVD). A planar type thermoelectric device has been fabricated using p-type $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ and n-type $Bi_2Te_3$ thin films. Firstly, the p-type thermoelectric element was patterned after growth of $4{\mu}m$ thickness of $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ layer. Again n-type $Bi_2Te_3$ film was grown onto the patterned p-type thermoelectric film and n-type strips are formed by using selective chemical etchant for $Bi_2Te_3$. The top electrical connector was formed by thermally deposited metal film. The generator consists of 20 pairs of p- and n-type legs. We demonstrate complex structures of different conduction types of thermoelectric element on same substrate by two separate runs of MOCVD with etch-stop layer and selective etchant for n-type thermoelectric material. Device performance was evaluated on a number of thermoelectric devices. To demonstrate power generation, one side of the sample was heated by heating block and the voltage output measured. As expected for a thermoelectric generator, the voltage decreases linearly, while the power output rises to a maximum. The highest estimated power of $1.3{\mu}W$ is obtained for the temperature difference of 45 K. we provide a promising procedure for fabricating thin film thermoelectric generators by using MOCVD grown thermoelectric materials which may have nanostructure with high thermoelectric properties.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.199-202
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• 2015

A simple and novel transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample preparation method for phase change nanowire is investigated. A $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ (GST) nanowire TEM sample was meticulously prepared using nanomanipulator and gas injection system in a field emission scanning electron microscopy for efficient and accurate TEM analysis. The process can minimize the damage during the TEM sample preparation of the nanowires, thus enabling the crystallographic analysis of as-grown GST nanowires without unexpected phase transition caused by e-beam heating.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.30-34
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• 2010

$CoSb_3$-based skutterudite compounds are promising candidates as thermoelectric (TE) materials used in intermediate temperature region. In this study, sintering of $CoSb_3$ powder and joining of $CoSb_3$ to copper-molybdenum electrode have been simultaneously performed by spark plasma sintering technique. The Ti foil was used for preventing the diffusion of copper into $CoSb_3$ and the Cu : Mo = 3 : 7 Vol. ratio composition was selected by the consideration of thermal expansion coefficients. The insertion of Ti interlayer between Cu-Mo and $CoSb_3$ was effective to join $CoSb_3$ to Cu-Mo by forming an intermediate layer of $TiSb_2$ at the Ti-$CoSb_3$ boundary. However, the formation of TiSb and TiCoSb intermediate layers deteriorated the joining properties by the generation of cracks in the interface of intermediate layer/$CoSb_3$ and intermediate/intermediate layers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.132-132
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• 2011

For the programming volume of PRAM, Ge2Sb2Te5(GST) thin films have been dominantly used and prepared by physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD). Among these methods, ALD is particularly considered as the most promising technique for the integration of PRAM because the ALD offers a superior conformality to PVD and CVD methods and a digital thickness control precisely to the atomic level since the film is deposited one atomic layer at a time. Meanwhile, although the IST has been already known as an optical data storage material, recently, it is known that the IST benefits multistate switching behavior, meaning that the IST-PRAM can be used for mutli-level coding, which is quite different and unique performance compared with the GST-PRAM. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate a possibility of the IST materials for the application of PRAM. So far there are many attempts to deposit the IST with MOCVD and PVD. However, it has not been reported that the IST can be deposited with the ALD method since the ALD reaction mechanism of metal organic precursors and the deposition parameters related with the ALD window are rarely known. Therefore, the main aim of this work is to demonstrate the ALD process for IST films with various precursors and the conformal filling of a nano size programming volume structure with the ALD?IST film for the integration. InSbTe (IST) thin films were deposited by ALD method with different precursors and deposition parameters and demonstrated conformal filling of the nano size programmable volume of cell structure for the integration of phase change random access memory (PRAM). The deposition rate and incubation time are 1.98 A/cycle and 25 cycle, respectively. The complete filling of nano size volume will be useful to fabricate the bottom contact type PRAM.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 1996

This paper has presented the characteristics of thermoelectric devices and the plots of thermoelectric cooling and heating as a function of currents for different temperatures. The maximum cooling and heating(.DELTA.T) for (BiSb)$\_$2/Te$\_$3/ and Bi$\_$2/(TeSe)$\_$3/ as a function of currents is about 75.deg. C, A solderable ceramic insulated thermoelectric module. Each module contains 31 thermoelectric devices. Thermoelectric material is a quaternary alloy of bismuth, tellurium, selenium, and antimony with small amounts of suitable dopants, carefully processed to produce an oriented polycrystalline ingot with superior anisotropic thermoelectric properties. Metallized ceramic plates afford maximum electrical insulation and thermal conduction. Operating temperature range is from -156.deg. C to +104.deg. C. The amount of Peltier cooling is directly proportional to the current through the sample, and the temperature gradient at the thermoelectric materials junctions will depend on the system geometry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.128.2-128.2
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• 2014

Long-wave infrared detectors using the type-II InAs/GaSb strained superlattice (T2SL) material system with the nBn structure were designed and fabricated. The band gap energy of the T2SL material was calculated as a function of the thickness of the InAs and GaSb layers by the Kronig-Penney model. Growth of the barrier material (Al0.2Ga0.8Sb) incorporated Te doping to reduce the dark current. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the 1st satellite superlattice peak from the X-ray diffraction was around 45 arc sec. The cutoff wavelength of the fabricated device was ${\sim}10.2{\mu}m$ (0.12eV) at 80 K while under an applied bias of -1.4V. The measured activation energy of the device was ~0.128 eV. The dark current density was shown to be $1.2{\times}10^{-5}A/cm^2$ at 80 K and with a bias -1.4 V. The responsivity was 1.9 A/W at $7.5{\mu}m$ at 80K and with a bias of -1.9V.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.295-301
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• 2023

Thermoelectric (TE) energy harvesting, which converts available thermal resources into electrical energy, is attracting significant attention, as it facilitates wireless and self-powered electronics. Recently, as demand for portable/wearable electronic devices and sensors increases, organic-inorganic TE films with polymeric matrix are being studied to realize flexible thermoelectric energy harvesters (f-TEHs). Here, we developed flexible organic-inorganic TE films with p-type Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ powder and polymeric matrices such as poly(3,4-eethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). The fabricated TE films with a PEDOT:PSS matrix and 1 wt% of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) exhibited a power factor value of 3.96 µW·m^-1·K^-2 which is about 2.8 times higher than that of PVDF-based TE film. We also fabricated f-TEHs using both types of TE films and investigated the TE output performance. The f-TEH made of PEDOT:PSS-based TE films harvested the maximum load voltage of 3.4 mV, with a load current of 17.4 µA, and output power of 15.7 nW at a temperature difference of 25 K, whereas the f-TEH with PVDF-based TE films generated values of 0.6 mV, 3.3 µA, and 0.54 nW. This study will broaden the fields of the research on methods to improve TE efficiency and the development of flexible organic-inorganic TE films and f-TEH.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.139.2-139.2
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• 2016

Electrons and phonons in chalcogenide-based materials play are important factors in the performance of an optical data storage media and thermoelectric devices. However, the fundamental kinetics of carriers in chalcogenide materials remains controversial, and active debate continues over the mechanism responsible for carrier relaxation. In this study, we investigated ultrafast carrier dynamics in an multilayered $\{Sb(3{\AA})/Te(9{\AA})\}n$ thin film during the transition from the amorphous to the crystalline phase using optical pump terahertz probe spectroscopy (OPTP), which permits the relationship between structural phase transition and optical property transitions to be examined. Using THz-TDS, we demonstrated that optical conductance and carrier concentration change as a function of annealing temperature with a contact-free optical technique. Moreover, we observed that the topological surface state (TSS) affects the degree of enhancement of carrier lifetime, which is closely related to the degree of spin-orbit coupling (SOC). The combination of an optical technique and a proposed carrier relaxation mechanism provides a powerful tool for monitoring TSS and SOC. Consequently, the response of the amorphous phase is dominated by an electron-phonon coupling effect, while that of the crystalline structure is controlled by a Dirac surface state and SOC effects. These results are important for understanding the fundamental physics of phase change materials and for optimizing and designing materials with better performance in optoelectronic devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.55-55
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• 2011

질소 등을 GST225 상변화재료에 첨가시켜 비저항을 증가시킴으로서 PCRAM의 동작 전류를 감소시킨 연구가 선행된 바 있다. 본 연구에서는 GST225와 달리 고속 동작 특성을 갖는 것으로 널리 알려진 Ge-doped SbTe (GeST) 상변화 재료에 Carbon을 첨가하여 박막 특성을 연구하여 동작 전류 감소의 가능성을 타진하였다. 실험을 위한 박막 제작을 위해 2 inch size의 GeST 및 C doped GeST (C-GeST) single target을 이용하여 RF magnetron co-sputtering 하였다. 박막은 carbon이 첨가되지 않은 GeST와 carbon 첨가량이 늘어나는 순서로 C-GeST 1, C-GeST 2, C-GeST 3로 구성된다. 이 때 제작한 박막의 composition analysis를 위해 XRF/RBS/AES가 사용되었고 제작된 박막의 기본적인 특성평가를 위해 resistivity(${\rho}$)와 crystallzation temp.(Cx), surface morphology(AFM), x-ray diffraction pattern(XRD)를 측정하였다. 실험결과 GeST, C-GeST 1, C-GeST 2, C-GeST 3 박막의 Cx는 각각 209, 225, 233, $245^{\circ}C$로 측정되어 carbon 첨가량이 증가됨에 따라 결정화 온도가 증가되는 것을 알 수 있었다. 또한 ${\rho}$도 마찬가지로 annealing 온도를 약 $320^{\circ}C$로 할 경우 ${\rho}$(as-dep)와 ${\rho}$(crystalline) 모두 0.03 / $2.61*10^{-6}$, 0.08 / $7.93*10^{-6}$, 0.09 / $11.99*10^{-6}$, 0.13 / $13.49*10^{-6}{\Omega}{\cdot}m$로 증가하였다. 증가된 ${\rho}$의 원인이 박막의 grain size의 감소라고 단언 할 수는 없으나 AFM 측정결과 grain이라고 추측되는 박막 feature들의 size가 점차 감소하는 것을 확인하였다.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2023

High-temperature and high-pressure post-processing applied to sintered thermoelectric materials can create nanoscale defects, thereby enhancing their thermoelectric performance. Here, we investigate the effect of hot isostatic pressing (HIP) as a post-processing treatment on the thermoelectric properties of p-type Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te_3.0 compounds sintered via spark plasma sintering. The sample post-processed via HIP maintains its electronic transport properties despite the reduced microstructural texturing. Moreover, lattice thermal conductivity is significantly reduced owing to activated phonon scattering, which can be attributed to the nanoscale defects created during HIP, resulting in an ~18% increase in peak zT value, which reaches ~1.43 at 100℃. This study validates that HIP enhances the thermoelectric performance by controlling the thermal transport without having any detrimental effects on the electronic transport properties of thermoelectric materials.