Fabrication of bismuth telluride-based alloy thin film thermoelectric devices grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Bismuth-antimony-telluride based thin film materials were grown by metal organic vapor phase deposition (MOCVD). A planar-type thermoelectric device was fabricated with p-type Bi _0.4Sb _1.6Te ₃ and n-type Bi ₂Te ₃ thin films. The generator consisted of 20 pairs of p-type and n-type legs. We demonstrated complex structures of different conduction types of thermoelectric elements on the same substrate using two separate deposition runs of p-type and n-type thermoelectric materials. To demonstrate power generation, we heated one side of the sample with a heating block and measured the voltage output. An estimated power of 1.3 μW was obtained for the temperature difference of 45 K. We provide a promising procedure for fabricating thin film thermoelectric generators by using MOCVD grown thermoelectric materials that may have a nanostructure with high thermoelectric properties.