• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.91-96
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• 2021

The enhancement of thermoelectric figure of merit was achieved by the simple processes of sieving and high energy ball milling, respectively, which are enable to reduce the grain size of n-type Bi₂Te₃ thermoelectric materials. By optimizing the grain size, the electrical conductivities and thermal conductivities were controlled. In this study, spark plasma sintering was employed for hindering the grain growth during the sintering process. The thermoelectric figure of merit was measured to be 0.78 in the samples with 30 min high energy ball milling process. Notably, this value was 40 % higher than that of pristine Bi₂Te₃ sample. This result shows the properties of thermoelectric materials can be readily controlled by optimization of grain size via simple ball milling process.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.345-349
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• 2013

Carbon nanotube-dispersed bismuth telluride matrix (CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$) nanopowders were synthesized by chemical routes followed by a ball-milling process. The microstructures of the synthesized CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$ nanopowders showed the characteristic microstructure of CNTs dispersed among disc-shaped $Bi_2Te_3$ nanopowders with as an average size of 500 nm in-plane and a few tens of nm in thickness. The prepared nanopowders were sintered into composites with a homogeneous dispersion of CNTs in a $Bi_2Te_3$ matrix. The dimensionless figure-of-merit of the composite showed an enhanced value compared to that of pure $Bi_2Te_3$ at the room temperature due to the reduced thermal conductivity and increased electrical conductivity with the addition of CNTs.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2016

Recently, $Bi_2Te_3$-based alloys are the best thermoelectric materials near to room temperature, so it has been researched to achieve increased figure of merit(ZT). Ternary compounds such as Bi-Te-Se and Bi-Sb-Te have higher thermoelectric property than binary compound Bi-Te and Sb-Te, respectively. Compared to DC plating method, pulsed electrodeposition is able to control parameters including average current density, and on/off pulse time etc. Thereby the morphology and properties of the films can be improved. In this study, we electrodeposited n-type ternary Cu-doped $Bi_2(Te-Se)_3$ thin film by modified pulse technique at room temperature. To further enhance thermoelectric properties of $Bi_2(Te-Se)_3$ thin film, we optimized Cu doping concentration in $Bi_2(Te-Se)_3$ thin film and correlated it to electrical and thermoelectric properties. Thus, the crystal, electrical, and thermoelectric properties of electrodeposited $Bi_2(Te-Se)_3$ thin film were characterized the XRD, SEM, EDS, Seebeck measurement, and Hall effect measurement, respectively. As a result, the thermoelectric properties of Cu-doped $Bi_2(Te-Se)_3$ thin films were observed that the Seebeck coefficient is $-101.2{\mu}V/K$ and the power factor is $1412.6{\mu}W/mK^2$ at 10 mg of Cu weight. The power factor of Cu-doped $Bi_2(Te-Se)_3$ thin film is 1.4 times higher than undoped $Bi_2(Te-Se)_3$ thin film.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.11 no.3 s.32
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• pp.83-89
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• 2004

NTC thermistor embedded miniature thermoelectric module was fabricated for the precise temperature control of optical communication device such as laser diode (LD). The miniature thermoelectric module ($7.2 mm{\times}9 mm{\times}2.2 mm$) consists of 21 BiTe thermoelectric couples, the operating temperature is precisely controlled by embedded thermistor with quick response. The figure-of-merit (Z), maximum temperature difference (${\Delta}T_{max}$), maximum cooling capacity ($Q_{max}$) of the miniature thermoelectric module were $2.5{\times}10^{-3}$/K, 72 K, 2.2 W respectively and temperature could be controlled in range of ${\pm}0.1^{\circ}C$ accuracy in air. The fabricated miniature thermoelectric module is suitable for applications of the optical communication packaging.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.69-76
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• 1997

P-type ($Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$) and n-type ($Bi_2Te_{2.4} Se_{0.6}$) thermoelectric thin film were deposited on glass and Teflon substrates by the flash evaporation technique. The changes in thermoelectric properties, such as Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, carrier concentration, carrier mobility, thermal conductivity, and figure of merit, were investigated as a function of film thickness and annealing condition. Figures of merit of the thin films annealed at 473 K for 1 hour were improved to be $1.3{\times}10^{-3}K^{-1}$ for p-type and $0.3{\times}10^{-3}K^{-1}$ for n-type, and they were almost independent of film thickness. Temperature sensors were fabricated from the thin films having the above mentioned properties. And thermo-emf, sensitivity, and time constant of the sensors were measured to evaluate their characteristics for temperature sensors. Thin film sensors deposited on Teflon substrates showed better performance than those on glass substrates, and their sensitivity and time constant were 2.91 V/W and 28.2 sec respectively for the sensor of leg width 1 mm$\times$length 16 mm.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.56 no.11
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• pp.822-828
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• 2018

P-type Ce/Yb-filled skutterudites were synthesized, and their charge transport and thermoelectric properties were investigated with partial double filling and charge compensation. In the case of $(Ce_{1-z}Yb_z)_{0.8}Fe_4Sb_{12}$ without Co substitution, the marcasite ($FeSb_2$) phase formed alongside the skutterudite phase, but the generation of the marcasite phase was inhibited by increasing Co concentration. The electrical conductivity decreased with increasing temperature, exhibiting degenerate semiconductor behavior. The Hall and Seebeck coefficients were positive, which confirmed that the specimens were p-type semiconductors with holes as the major carriers. The carrier concentration decreased as the concentration of Ce and Co increased, which led to decreased electrical conductivity and increased Seebeck coefficient. The thermal conductivity decreased due to a reduction in electronic thermal conductivity via Co substitution, and due to decreased lattice thermal conductivity via double filling of Ce and Yb. $(Ce_{0.25}Yb_{0.75})_{0.8}Fe_{3.5}Co_{0.5}Sb_{12}$ exhibited the greatest dimensionless figure of merit (ZT = 0.66 at 823 K).

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.529-532
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• 2006

Sn-filled $Co_8Sb_{24}$ skutterudites were synthesized by the encapsulated induction melting process. Single ${\delta}-phase$ was successfully obtained by subsequent annealing and confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Temperature dependences of Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity were examined from 300 K to 700 K. The positive Seebeck coefficient confirmed the p-type conductivity of the Sn-filled $Co_8Sb_{24}$. Electrical resistivity increased with increasing temperature, which shows that the Sn-filled $Co_8Sb_{24}$ skutterudite is a highly degenerate semiconductor. Thermal conductivity was reduced by Sn-filling because the filler atoms acted as phonon scattering centers in the skutterudite lattice. Thermoelectric figure of merit was enhanced by Sn filling and its optimum filling content was considered to be $z{\leq}0.5$ in the $Sn_zCo_8Sb_{24}$ system.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.437-442
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• 2011

The present study focused on the synthesis of Bi-Te-Se-based powder by an oxide-reduction process, and analysis of the thermoelectric properties of the synthesized powder. The phase structure, chemical composition, and morphology of the synthesized powder were analyzed by XRD, EPMA and SEM. The synthesized powder was sintered by spark plasma sintering. The thermoelectric properties of the sintered body were evaluated by measuring its Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity, and thermal conductivity. $Bi_2Te_{2.7}Se_{0.3}$ powder was synthesized from a mixture of $Bi_2O_3$, $TeO_2$, and $SeO_2$ powders by mechanical milling, calcination, and reduction. The sintered body of the synthesized powder exhibited n-type thermoelectric characteristics. The thermoelectric properties of the sintered bodies depend on the reduction temperature. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity of the sintered body were increased with increasing reduction temperature. The sintered body of the $Bi_2Te_{2.7}Se_{0.3}$ powder synthesized at $360^{\circ}C$ showed about 0.5 of the figure of merit (ZT) at room temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.212-212
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• 2009

Thermoelectric devices were used to wide range of application. At present, increasing the efficiency of these devices, in particular, through the preparation of materials showing a high thermoelectric figure of merit, Z, $Bi_2Te_3$ and $Sb_2Te_3$ thin films on Si substrates are deposited by flash evaporation method for thermopile sensor applications. In order to enhance the thermoelectric properties of the thin film, annealing in high vacuum is carried out in the temperature range from 200 to $350^{\circ}C$. The microstructure of the film is investigated by XRD and SEM. The resistivity and Seebeck coefficient of the films are measured by Van der Pauw method and hot probe method respectively. At elevating annealing temperature, the crystallinity and thermoelectrical properties of films are improved by increasing the size of grains. At excessive high annealing temperatures, it is shown that Seebeck coefficient of films is decreased because of Te evaporation. By optimizing the annealing conditions, it is possible to obtain a high performance thin film with a thermoelectric properties.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.353-357
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• 2016

Following the population growth and civilization, resulted in energy-mass consumption society, research efforts on enhancing efficiency of traditional energy sources has been investigated. Among many alternatives, thermoelectric power generation technologies are highlighted as one of solutions for high heat energy efficiencies. Currently, the research area of thermoelectric power generation has been achieved over two of ZT value, which seems to have enough competitiveness as following the development of nano-technologies, in particular, for waste heat recovery, and the development of thermoelectric materials is still ongoing to obtain higher energy efficiencies. In this review, the recent development of thermoelectric materials and module technologies categorized by different temperature regions was briefly introduced.