• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.149-149
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• 1998

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.456-460
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• 2011

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-fabricated suspended devices were used to measure the in-plane electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity of 304 nm and 516 nm thick InGaAlAs films with 0.3% ErAs nanoparticle inclusions by volume. The suspended device allows comprehensive thermoelectric property measurements from a single thin film or nanowire sample. Both thin film samples have identical material compositions and the sole difference is in the sample thickness. The measured Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity were all larger in magnitude for the thicker sample. While the relative change in values was dependent on the temperature, the thermal conductivity demonstrated the largest decrease for the thinner sample in the measurement temperature range of 325 K to 425 K. This could be a result of the increased phonon scattering due to the surface defects and included ErAs nanoparticles. Similar to the results from other material systems, the combination of the measured data resulted in higher values of the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) for the thinner sample; this result supports the theory that the reduced dimensionality, such as in twodimensional thin films or one-dimensional nanowires, can enhance the thermoelectric figure of merit compared with bulk threedimensional materials. The results strengthen and provide a possible direction in locating and optimizing thermoelectric materials for energy applications.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.542-545
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• 2011

Half-Heusler alloys are a potential thermoelectric material for use in high-temperature applications. In an attempt to produce half-Heusler thermoelectric materials with fine microstructures, TiCoSb was synthesized by the mechanical alloying of stoichiometric elemental powder compositions and then consolidated by vacuum hot pressing. The phase transformations during the mechanical alloying and hot consolidation process were investigated using XRD and SEM. A single-phase, half- Heusler allow was successfully produced by the mechanical alloying process, but a minor portion of the second phase of the CoSb formation was observed after the vacuum hot pressing. The thermoelectric properties as a function of the temperature were evaluated for the hot-pressed specimens. The Seebeck coefficients in the test range showed negative values, representing n-type conductivity, and the absolute value was found to be relatively low due to the existence of the second phase. It is shown that the electrical conductivity is relatively high and that the thermal conductivities are compatibly low in MA TiCoSb. The maximum ZT value was found to be relatively low in the test temperature range, possibly due to the lower Seebeck coefficient. The Hall mobility value appeared to be quite low, leading to the lower value of Seebeck coefficient. Thus, it is likely that the single phase produced by mechanical alloying process will show much higher ZT values after an excess Ti addition. It is also believed that further property enhancement can be obtained if appropriate dopants are selectively introduced into this MA TiCoSb System.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.287-292
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• 2022

Magnesium-antimonide is a well-known zintl phase thermoelectric material with low band gap energy, earth-abundance and characteristic electron-crystal phonon-glass properties. The nominal composition Mg_3.8-xZn_xSb₂ (0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.02) was synthesized by controlled melting and subsequent vacuum hot pressing method. To investigate phase development and surface morphology during the process, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were carried out. It should be noted that an additional 16 at. % Mg must be added to the system to compensate for Mg loss during the melting process. This study evaluated the thermoelectric properties of the material in terms of Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity from the low to high temperature regime. The results demonstrated that substituting Zn at Mg sites increased electrical conductivity without significantly affecting the Seebeck coefficient. The maximal dimensionless figure of merit achieved was 0.30 for x = 0.01 at 855 K which is 30% greater than the intrinsic value. Electronic flow properties were also evaluated and discussed to explain the carrier transport mechanism involved in the thermoelectric properties of this alloy system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.425-425
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• 2008

Bismuth-antimony-telluride based thermoelectric thin film materials were prepared by metal organic vapor phase deposition using trimethylbismuth, triethylantimony and diisopropyltelluride as metal organic sources. 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 device was heated by heating block and the voltage output was measured. The highest estimated power of 1.3mW is obtained at the temperature difference of 45K. We provide a promising approach for fabricating thin film thermoelectric generators by using MOCVD grown thermoelectric materials which can employ nanostructures for high thermoelectric properties.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.272-276
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• 2007

P-type thermoelectric material $Si_{0.8}Ge_{0.2}$ was sintered by Hot Press process (HP) and the effect of boron ($0.25{\sim}2$ at%) addition on the thermoelectric properties were reported. To enhance the thermoelectric performances, the $Si_{0.8}Ge_{0.2}$, alloys were fabricated by mechanical alloying (MA) and HP. The carrier of p-type SiGe alloy was controlled by B-doping. The effect of sintering condition and thermoelectric properties were investigated. B-doped SiGe alloys exhibited positive seebeck coefficient. The electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity were increased at the small amount of boron content ($0.25{\sim}0.5$ at%). However, they were decreased over 0.5 at% boron content. As a result, the small addition of boron improved the Z value. The Z value of 0.5 at% B doped $Si_{0.8}Ge_{0.2}$ B alloy was $0.9{\times}10{-4}/K$, the highest value among the prepared alloys.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.667-670
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• 2005

Binary skutterudite $CoSb_3$ compounds were prepared by the arc melting and hot pressing processes and their thermoelectric properties were investigated in the range from 300 to 600 K. Annealing effect was correlated to phase transformation and homogenization. Thermoelectric properties of the arc-melted and hot-pressed $CoSb_3$ were discussed and compared. Undoped intrinsic $CoSb_3$ prepared by the arc melting showed p-type conduction, while it showed metallic behavior with increasing measuring temperature. However, hot pressed specimens showed n-type conduction, possibly due to Sb evaporation. Thermoelectric properties were remarkably improved by annealing In vacuum and they were closely related to phase transformation.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.66-69
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• 2017

The internal temperature of human-tissue transfers must be steadily maintained regardless of the external environmental changes. An ice pack and dry ice are the coolants for the transfer containers for which heat-insulating materials such as EPP (expended polypeopylene and EPS (expended polystrene) are used; however, changes of the external temperature/pressure and the melting of the coolants that is due to a long carriage result in changes of the internal temperature, and this makes it difficult to maintain the temperature. Accordingly, the thermoelectric element was used to design/manufacture a transfer container to maintain the internal temperature regardless of the external environmental changes. As a result of the measurement of the changes of the internal temperatures of the manufactured thermoelectric-element container and the EPS container over time, the internal temperature of the EPS container was increased, whereas the internal temperature of the thermoelectric-element container was maintained. The temperature of the distilled water that was poured into the containers indicated a pattern identical to that of the internal temperature.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.175-180
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• 2008

In this study, the thermoelectric power and resistivity of the perovskite manganite $La_{0.75}Ba_{0.25}MnO_3$ were investigated in the temperature range 300K-1200K. The electrical resistivity and thermoelectric power indicate a transport mechanism dominated by adiabatic small-polaron hopping. The power factor increases from $2{\times}10^{-6}W/mK^2$ to $1{\times}10^{-5}W/mK^2$ as to the temperature increases from 400K to 1200K, which indicates that the compound is highly feasible as a thermoelectric material at high temperatures.