• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.41-49
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• 2008

Thermoelectric properties of the n-type Bi-Te and the p-type Bi-Sb-Te films were measured and the growth behaviors of the electrodeposited Bi-Te and Bi-Sb-Te nanowires were characterized. Filling ratios of 81% and 77% were obtained for electrodeposition of the Bi-Te and the Bi-Sb-Te nanowires, respectively, into the nano pores of 200 nm-diameter of an alumina template. A thermoelectric module, composed of the Bi-Te nanowires and the Bi-Sb-Te nanowires was processed by electrodeposition, and a resistance value of $15{\Omega}$ was measured between the Ni electrodes formed on the Bi-Te nanowires and the Bi-Sb-Te nanowires of the module.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.303-308
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• 2015

Pd-functionalized ${\beta}-Bi_2O_3$ nanowires are synthesized by thermal evaporation of Bi powder using VLS mechanism followed by Pd coating and annealing. In this study, sensing properties of Pd-functionalized ${\beta}-Bi_2O_3$ nanowires sensor to selected concentrations of $NO_2$ gas were examined. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the nanowires with diameters in a range of 100 - 200 nm and lengths of up to a few tens of micrometers. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction confirmed that the products corresponded to the nanowires of ${\beta}-Bi_2O_3$ crystals and Pd nanoparticles. Pd-functionalized ${\beta}-Bi_2O_3$ nanowires sensor showed an enhanced sensing performance to $NO_2$ gas compared to as-synthesized ${\beta}-Bi_2O_3$ nanowires sensor. As synthesized and Pd-functionalized ${\beta}-Bi_2O_3$ nanowire sensors showed responses of 178% - 338% and 196% - 535% at $300^{\circ}C$, respectively, to 0.05 - 2 ppm $NO_2$. In addition, the underlying mechanism of the enhancement of the sensing properties of ${\beta}-Bi_2O_3$ nanowires by Pd-functionalization is discussed.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.248-255
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• 2009

A micro thermoelectric device was processed by electroplating the n-type Bi-Te nanowires and ptype Sb-Te nanowires into an alumina template with 200 nm pores. Power generation characteristics of the micro devices composed of the Bi-Te nanowires, the Sb-Te nanowires, and both the Bi-Te and the Sb-Te nanowires were analyzed with applying a temperature difference of $40^{\circ}C$ across the devices along the thickness direction. The n-type Bi-Te and the p-type Sb-Te nanowire devices exhibited thermoelectric power outputs of $3.8{\times}10^{-10}W$ and $4.8{\times}10^{-10}W$, respectively. The output power of the device composed of both the Bi-Te and the Sb-Te nanowires decreased to $1.4{\times}10^{-10}W$ due to a large electrical resistance of the Cu electrode connecting the Bi-Te nanowire array with the Sb-Te nanowire array.

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnestics Society Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.79-79
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• 2010

Semimetallic bismuth (Bi) has been extensively investigated over the last decade since it exhibits very intriguing transport properties due to their highly anisotropic Fermi surface, low carrier concentration, long carrier mean free path l, and small effective carrier mass $m^*$. In particular, the great interest in Bi nanowires lies in the development of nanowire fabrication methods and the opportunity for exploring novel low-dimensional phenomena as well as practical application such as thermoelectricity[1]. In this work, we introduce a self-assembled interconnection of nanostructures produced by an on-film formation of nanowires (OFF-ON) method in order to form a highly ohmic Bi nanobridge. A Bi thin film was first deposited on a thermally oxidized Si (100) substrate at a rate of $40\;{\AA}/s$ by radio frequency (RF) sputtering at 300 K. The sputter system was kept in an ultra high vacuum (UHV) of $10^{-6}$ Torr before deposition, and sputtering was performed under an Ar gas pressure of 2m Torr for 180s. For the lateral growth of Bi nanowires, we sputtered a thin Cr (or $SiO_2$) layer on top of the Bi film. The Bi thin films were subsequently put into a custom-made vacuum furnace for thermal annealing to grow Bi nanowires by the OFF-ON method. After thermal annealing, the Bi nanowires cannot be pushed out from the topside of the Bi films due to the Cr (or $SiO_2$) layer. Instead, Bi nanowires grow laterally as a mean s of releasing the compressive stress. We fabricated a self-assembled Bi nanobridge (d=192 nm) device in-situ using OFF-ON through annealing at $250^{\circ}C$ for 10hours. From I-V measurements taken on the Bi nanobridge device, contacts to the nanobridge were found highly ohmic. The quality of the Bi nanobridge was also proved by the high MR of 123% obtained from transverse MR measurements. These results manifest the possibility of self-assembled nanowire interconnection between various nanostructures for a variety of applications and provide a simple device fabrication method to investigate transport properties on nanowires without complex patterning and etching processes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.04b
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• pp.17-17
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• 2009

We report the invention of a direct growth method termed On-Film Formation of Nanowire (OFF-ON) for making high-quality single-crystal nanowires, i.e. Bi and $Bi_2Te_3$, without the use of conventional templates, catalysts, or starting materials. We have used the OFF-ON technique to grow single crystal semi-metallic Bi and compound semiconductor $Bi_2Te_3$ nanowires from sputtered Bi and BiTe films after thermal annealing, respectively. The mechanism for nanowire growth is stress-induced mass flow along grain boundaries in the polycrystalline films. OFF-ON is a simple but powerful method for growing perfect single-crystal semi-metallic and compound semiconductor nanowires of high aspect ratio with high crystallinity that distinguishes it from other competitive growth approaches that have been developed to date. Our results suggest that Bi and $Bi_2Te_3$ nanowires grown by OFF-ON can be an ideal material system for exploring their unique thermoelectric properties due to their high-quality single crystalline and high conductivity, which have consequence and relevance for high-efficiency thermoelectric devices.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.445-448
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• 2010

For an enhanced thermoelectric performance, one-dimensional heterostructure nanowires were created that consisted of aBi core and Te shell. The structure was fabricated by depositing Te in-situ onto a Bi nanowire grown by our unique OFF-ON (on-film formation of nanowires) method. After examining a cross-sectional TEM image, it was found that diffusive interface was formed between Bi and Te. Selected area electron diffraction revealed that the crystallinity of the Te shell was some what lower compared to the highly single-crystalline Bi core. The Bi-Te core/shell nanowires can be a smart structure that suppresses phonon transport by several scattering mechanisms, making the OFF-ON method the simplest way to realize that structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.60-60
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• 2010

1-D nanostructured materials have much more attention because of their outstanding properties and wide applicability in device fabrication. Bismuth oxide($Bi_2O_3$) is an important p-type semiconductor with main crystallographic polymorphs denoted by $\alpha-$, $\beta-$, $\gamma-$, and $\delta-Bi_2O_3$[1]. Due to its unique optical and electrical properties, $Bi_2O_3$ has been extensively investigated for various applications in gas sensors, photovoltaic cells, fuel cells, supercapacitors[2-4]. In this study, $Bi_2O_3$ NWs were grown by two step annealing process: in the first step, after annealing at $270^{\circ}C$ for 10h in a vaccum($3{\times}10^{-6}$ torr), we can obtain the bismuth nanowires. In the second step, after annealing at $300^{\circ}C$ for 2h in $O_2$ ambient, we successfully fabicated $Bi_2O_3$nanowires.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.04b
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• pp.47-47
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• 2009

The formation of variable one-dimensional structures including core/shell structure is of particular significance with respect to potential applications for thermoelectric devices with the enhanced figure of merit ($ZT=S2{\sigma}T/{\kappa}$). We report the fabrication of Bi-Te core/shell nanowire based on a novel stress induced method. Fig. 1 schematically shows the nanowire fabrication process. Bi nanowires are grown on the Si substrate by the stress-induced method, and then Te is evaporated on the Bi nanowires. Fig. 2 is a transmission electron microscopy image clearly showing a core/shell structure for which effective phonon scattering and quantum confinement effect are expected. Electrical conductivity of the core/shell nanowire was measured at the temperatures from 4K to 300K, respectively. Our results demonstrate that Bi-Te core/shell nanowire can be grown successfully by the stress-induced method. Based on the result of electrical transport measurement and characteristic morphology of rough surface, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity of Bi-Te core/shell nanowires are presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.04b
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• pp.23-23
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• 2009

It has been challenging to increase the thermoelectric figure of merit ($ZT=S^2{\sigma}T/\kappa$) of materials, which determine the efficiency of thermoelectric devices, because the three parameters Seebeck coefficient (S), electrical conductivity ($\sigma$), and thermal conductivity ($\kappa$) of bulk materials are inter-dependent. With the development of nanotechnology, ZT values of nanostructured materials are predicted to be enhanced by classical size effects and quantum confinement effects. In particular, Bi nanowires were suggested as one of ideal thermoelectric materials due to the expected quantum confinement effects for the simultaneous increase in Sand. In this work, we have investigated the thermal conductivity of individual single crystalline Bi nanowires with d = 98 nm and d = 327 nm in the temperature range 40 - 300 K using MEMS devices. The for the Bi nanowire with d = 98 nm was observed to be ~ 1.6 W/m-K at 300 K, which is much lower than that of Bi bulk (8 W/m-K at 300 K). This indicates that the thermal conductivity of the Bi suppressed due to enhanced surface boundary scattering in one-dimensional structures. Our results suggest that Bi nanowires grown by stress-induced method can be used for high-efficiency thermoelectric devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.04b
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• pp.95-95
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• 2009

Single-crystalline Bi nanowires have motivated many researchers to investigate novel quasi-one-dimensional phenomena such as the wire-boundary scattering effect and quantum confinement effects due to their electron effective mass (~0.001 me). Single crystalline Bi nanowires were found to grow on as-sputtered films after thermal annealing at $270^{\circ}C$. This was facilitated by relaxation of stress between the film and the thermally oxidized Si substrate that originated from a mismatch of the thermal expansion. However, the method is known to produce relatively lower density of nanowires than that of other nanowire growth methods for device applications. In order to increase density of nanowire, we propose a method for enhancing compressive stress which is a driving force for nanowire growth. In this work, we report that the compressive stress can be controlled by modifying a substrate structure. A combination of photolithography and a reactive ion etching technique was used to fabricate patterns on a Si substrate. It was found that the nanowire density of a Bi film grown on $100{\mu}m{\times}100{\mu}m$ pattern Si substrate increased over seven times higher than that of a Bi sample grown on a normal substrate. Our results show that density of nanowire can be enhanced by sidewall effect in optimized proper pattern sizes for the Bi nanowire growth.