• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2012

An in-plane thermoelectric sensor was processed on a glass substrate by evaporation of the n-type Bi-Te and p-type Sb-Te thin films, and its sensing characteristics were evaluated. The n-type Bi-Te thins film used to fabricate the inplane sensor exhibited a Seebeck coefficient of -165 ${\mu}V$/K and a power factor of $80{\times}10^{-4}W/K^2-m$. The p-type Sb-Te thin film used to fabricate the in-plane sensor exhibited a Seebeck coefficient of 142 ${\mu}V$/K and a power factor of $51.7{\times}10^{-4}W/K^2-m$. The in-plane thermoelectric sensor consisting of 15 pairs of the n-type Bi-Te and the p-type Sb-Te evaporated thin films exhibited a sensitivity of 2.8 mV/K.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.119-126
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• 2019

A flexible thermoelectric module, which consisted of 18 pairs of Bi₂Te₃-based hot-pressed p-n thermoelectric legs, were processed by filling the module inside with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and removing the top and bottom substrates. Its power generation properties and bending characteristics were measured. With putting the flexible module on the wrist, an open circuit voltage of 2.23 mV and a maximum output power of 1.69 ㎼ were generated during staying still. On the other hand, an open circuit voltage of 3.32 mV and a maximum output power of 3.41 ㎼ were obtained with walking motion. The resistance variation of the module was kept below 1% even after applying 30,000 bending cycles with a bending curvature radius of 25 mm.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.149-156
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• 2019

A stretchable thermoelectric module consisting of 5 pairs of Bi₂Te₃-based hot-pressed p-n thermoelectric legs was processed by filling the module inside with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and removing the top and bottom substrates. Its stretchable characteristics and power generation properties were measured. The integrity of the module was kept well even after 10 strain cycles ranging from 0 to 0.1. With increasing the tensile strain to 0.2, the module circuitry became open because of joint failure between Cu electrodes and thermoelectric legs. The stretchable thermoelectric module exhibited an open circuit voltage of 4.6 mV with a temperature difference of 2.2K across both ends of thermoelectric legs, and changes in its open circuit voltage were below 5% for tensile strains of 0~0.1. Being elongated for a strain of 0.1, it exhibited the maximum output power of 18.5 ㎼ with the temperature difference of 2.2K across its both ends.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.79-86
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• 2019

Most of low-grad heat (< $200^{\circ}C$) generated from industrial process and human body, is abandoned as waste heat. To harvest the waste heat, the thermoelectrics (TE) technology has been widely investigated so far. However, TE suffers from poor performance and high material cost. As an alternative to the TE device, the thermoelectrical cell (TEC) is gaining growing attention these days. The TEC features several advantages such as high Seebeck coefficient, low cost and design flexibility compared to TE, but its commercial viability was limited by its low heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency. However, recent reports have demonstrated that the performance of TEC can be markedly improved by employing novel electrode/electrolyte materials and by optimizing cell design. This article summarizes the recent progress of TECs in terms of the redox couples, electrolyte solvents and additives, electrode materials and cell design.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.119-125
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• 2024

The n-type Bi_2-xSb_xTe₃ compounds have been of great interest due to its potential to achieve a high thermoelectric performance, comparable to that of p-type Bi_2-xSb_xTe₃. However, a comprehensive understanding on the thermoelectric properties remains lacking. Here, we investigate the thermoelectric transport properties and band characteristics of n-type Bi_2-xSb_xTe₃ (x = 0.1 - 1.1) based on experimental and theoretical considerations. We find that the higher power factor at lower Sb content results from the optimized balance between the density of state effective mass and nondegenerate mobility. Additionally, a higher carrier concentration at lower x suppresses bipolar conduction, thereby reducing thermal conductivity at elevated temperatures. Consequently, the highest zT of ~ 0.5 is observed at 450 K for x = 0.1 and, according to the single parabolic band model, it could be further improved by ~70 % through carrier concentration tuning.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.77-82
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• 2010

Effects of evaporation processes and a reduction annealing on thermoelectric properties of the Sb-Te thin films prepared by thermal evaporation have been investigated. The thin film evaporated by using the powders formed by crushing a $Sb_2Te_3$ ingot as an evaporation source exhibited a power factor of $2.71{\times}10^{-4}W/m-K^2$. The thin film processed by evaporation of the mixed powders of Sb and Te as an evaporation source showed a power factor of $0.12{\times}10^{-4}W/m-K^2$. The thin film fabricated by coevaporation of Sb and Te dual evaporation sources possessed a power factor of $0.73{\times}10^{-4}W/m-K^2$. With a reduction annealing at $300^{\circ}C$ for 2 hrs, the power factors of the films evaporated by using the $Sb_2Te_3$ ingot-crushed powders and coevaporated with Sb and Te dual evaporation sources were remarkably improved to $24.1{\times}10^{-4}W/m-K^2$ and $40.2{\times}10^{-4}W/m-K^2$, respectively.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.14 no.2 s.43
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• pp.9-15
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• 2007

Thermoelectric properties of the electrodeposited Bi-Te films and photoresist process have been investigated to apply for thermoelectric thin film devices. After plating in Bi-Te solutions of 20 mM concentration, which were prepared by dissolving $Bi_2O_3$ and $TeO_2$ into 1M $HNO_3$, thermoelectric properties of the films were characterized with variation of the Te/(Bi+Te) ratio in a plating solution. With increasing the Te/(Bi+Te) ratio in the plating solution from 0.5 to 0.65, Seebeck coefficient of Bi-Te films changed from $-59{\mu}V/K$ to $-48{\mu}V/K$ and electrical resistivity was lowered from $1m{\Omega}-cm$ to $0.8m{\Omega}-cm$ due to the increase in the electron concentration. Maximum power factor of $3.5{\times}10^{-4}W/K^2-m$ was obtained for the Bi-Te film with the $Bi_2Te_3$ stoichiometric composition. Using multilayer overhang process, the photoresist pattern to form thermoelectric legs of 30 m depth and 100m diameter was successfully fabricated fur micro thermoelectric device applications.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.777-784
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• 2017

Energy harvesting through a thermoelectric module normally makes use of the temperature gradient in the system's operational environment. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain the desired output power when the system is subjected to an environment in which a low temperature gradient is generated across the module, because the power generation efficiency of the thermoelectric device is not optimized. The utilization of solar energy, which is a form of renewable energy abundant in nature, has mostly been limited to photovoltaic solar cells and solar thermal energy generation. However, photovoltaic power generation is capable of utilizing only a narrow wavelength band from the sunlight and, thus, the power generation efficiency might be lowered by light scattering. In the case of solar thermal energy generation, the system usually requires large-scale facilities. In this study, a simple and small size thermoelectric power generation system with a solar concentrator was designed to create a large temperature gradient for enhanced performance. A solar tracking system was used to concentrate the solar thermal energy during the experiments and a liquid circulating chiller was installed to maintain a large temperature gradient in order to avoid heat transfer to the bottom of the thermoelectric module. Then, the setup was tested through a series of experiments and the performance of the system was analyzed for the purpose of evaluating its feasibility and validity.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.67-74
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• 2018

Thermoelectric thin film modules were fabricated by electroplating p-type $Sb_2Te_3$and n-type $Bi_2Te_3$ thin film legs with the same thickness of $20{\mu}m$ and different diameters of $100{\mu}m$, $300{\mu}m$, and $500{\mu}m$, respectively. The output voltage and output power of thin film modules were measured and compared as a function of the leg diameter. The modules processed with thin film legs of $100{\mu}m$, $300{\mu}m$, and $500{\mu}m$-diameter exhibited open circuit voltages of 365 mV at ${\Delta}T=36.7K$, 142 mV at ${\Delta}T=37.5K$, and 53 mV at ${\Delta}T=36.1K$, respectively. Maximum output powers of $845{\mu}W$ at ${\Delta}T=36.7K$, $631{\mu}W$ at ${\Delta}T=37.5K$, and $276{\mu}W$ at ${\Delta}T=36.1K$ were obtained for the modules fabricated with the thin film legs of $100{\mu}m$, $300{\mu}m$, and $500{\mu}m$-diameter, respectively.

• 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.