• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2013

The n-type $Bi_2(Te_{0.9}Se_{0.1})_3$ powders, which were fabricated by melting/grinding method and dispersed with 0.5 vol% $TiO_2$ nanopowders, were hot-pressed in order to investigate the effects of $TiO_2$ dispersion on the thermoelectric properties of the hot-pressed $Bi_2(Te_{0.9}Se_{0.1})_3$. Excellent thermoelectric properties such as a maximum figure-of-merit of $2.93{\times}10^{-3}/K$ and a maximum dimensionless figure-of-merit of 1.02 were obtained for the hot-pressed $Bi_2(Te_{0.9}Se_{0.1})_3$. With dispersion of 0.5 vol% $TiO_2$ nanopowders, the maximum figure-of-merit and the maximum dimensionless figure-of-merit decreased to $2.09{\times}10^{-3}/K$ and 0.68, respectively.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 2012

The present study was focused on the analysis of the electric and thermal properties of spark plasma sintered $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$ thermoelectric material. The crystal structure, microstructure, electric and thermal properties of the sintered body were evaluated by measuring XRD, SEM, electric resistivity, Hall effect and thermal conductivity. The $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$ sintered body showed anisotropic crystal structure. The c-axis of the $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$ crystal aligned in a parallel direction with applied pressure during spark plasma sintering. The degree of the crystal alignment increased with increasing sintering temperature and sintering time. The electric resistivity and thermal conductivity of the $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$ sintered body showed anisotropic characteristics result from crystal alignment.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.159-163
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• 2016

Antiferromagnet (AFM)/ferromagnet (FM) bilayer structures are widely used in the magnetic devices of sensor and memory applications, as AFM materials can induce unidirectional anisotropy of the FM material via exchange coupling. The strength of the exchange coupling is known to be sensitive to quality of the interface of the AFM/FM bilayers. In this study, we utilize proton irradiation to modify the interface structures and investigate its effect on the magnetic properties of AFM/FM structures, including the exchange bias and magnetic thermoelectric effect. The magnetic properties of IrMn/CoFeB structures with various IrMn thicknesses are characterized after they are exposed to a proton beam of 3 MeV and $1{\sim}5{\times}10^{14}ions/cm^2$. We observe that the magnetic moment is gradually reduced as the amount of the dose is increased. On the other hand, the exchange bias field and thermoelectric voltage are not significantly affected by proton irradiation. This indicates that proton irradiation has more of an influence on the bulk property of the FM CoFeB layer and less of an effect on the IrMn/CoFeB interface.

• 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.15 no.5
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• pp.345-351
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• 2008

The effects of the dopant (Mn) ratio on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties of $FeSi_2$ alloy were studied in this research. The alloy was fabricated by a combination process of ball milling and high pressure pressing. Structural behavior of the sintered bulks were systematically investigated by XRD, SEM, and optical microscopy. With increasing dopan (Mn) ratio, the density and ${\varepsilon}-FeSi$ phase of the sintered bulks increased and maximum density of 94% was obtained in the 0.07% Mn-doped alloy. The sintered bulks showed fine microstructure of ${\alpha}-Fe_{2}Si_{5}$, ${\varepsilon}-FeSi$ and ${\beta}-FeSi_2$ phase. The semiconducting phase of ${\beta}-FeSi_2$ was transformed from ${\alpha}-Fe_{2}Si_{5}+{\varepsilon}-FeSi$ phase by annealing.

• 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 the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

Thermoelectric (TE) technology is becoming increasingly important in applications of solid-state cooling and renewable energy sources. $Bi_2Te_3$-based TE materials are widely used in small-scale cooling and temperature control applications; however, higher levels of TE performance are required for new applications such as large-scale cooling (e.g., domestic refrigerators or air conditioners) and for highly efficient power generation system. Recently, the TE performance of $Bi_2Te_3$-based materials has been remarkably enhanced by the introduction of nanostructuring technologies which can be used to prepare TE raw materials. Because it takes into account the theoretical and experimental characteristics, nanostructuring has been shown to be one of the most promising ways to realize the simultaneous control of the electronic and thermal transport properties. In this review, emphasis is placed on bulk-type nanostructured $Bi_2Te_3$-based TE materials. Nanostructuring technologies for enhanced TE performance are summarized, and a few important strategies are presented.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.611-616
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• 2016

In this study, we synthesized $Ag_2Se$ nanoparticles (NPs) in an aqueous solution and investigated the thermoelectric characteristics of $Ag_2Se$ NPs thin films on plastic substrates. Regardless of thermal annealing treatment, all the $Ag_2Se$ NPs thin films show the negative Seebeck coefficients, indicating the n-type characteristics. As the annealing temperature increases, the electric conductivity increases while the Seebeck coefficient decreases. The electric conductivity of the thin film annealed at $180^{\circ}C$ is larger by $10^6$ times, compared with the as-prepared thin film, And the maximum power density for the thin film annealed at $180^{\circ}C$ is calculated to be $44{\mu}W/cm^2$.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 2010

Carbon-nanotube-embedded bismuth telluride (CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$) matrix composites were fabricated by a powder metallurgy process. Composite powders, whereby 5 vol.% of functionalized CNTs were homogeneously mixed with $Bi_2Te_3$ alloying powders, were successfully synthesized by using high-energy ball milling process. The powders were consolidated into bulk CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$ composites by spark plasma sintering process at $350^{\circ}C$ for 10 min. The fabricated composites showed the uniform mixing and homogeneous dispersion of CNTs in the $Bi_2Te_3$ matrix. Seebeck coefficient of CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$ composites reveals that the composite has n-type semiconducting characteristics with values ranging $-55\;{\mu}V/K$ to $-95\;{\mu}V/K$ with increasing temperature. Furthermore, the significant reduction in thermal conductivity has been clearly observed in the composites. The results showed that CNT addition to thermoelectric materials could be useful method to obtain high thermoelectric performance.

• Korean Journal of Crystallography
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.104-109
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• 2004

The mechanical synthesis of thermoelectric material $FeSi_2$ by planetary ball mill has been investigated. The homogeneous and amorphous mixture of Fe-Si has been obtained by mechanical alloying for 850 rpm-40 min. The $\beta-FeSi_2$ powder could be synthesized by 1123 K-3 hr annealing heat treatment after mechanical alloying for 850 rpm-10, 20, and 40 min. The ceramic samples doped with the maximum content up to $10\;at.\;\%$ Co have exhibited semiconduction phenomena and maximum thermoelectric powder at 440K.