Giant Thermoelectric Seebeck Coefficients in Tellurium Quantum Wires Formed Vertically in an Aluminum Oxide Layer by Electrical Breakdown

No Won Park; Hanul Kim; Won Yong Lee; Gil Sung Kim; Dae Yun Kang; Tae Geun Kim; Eiji Saitoh; Young Gui Yoon; Heesuk Rho

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01842

Giant Thermoelectric Seebeck Coefficients in Tellurium Quantum Wires Formed Vertically in an Aluminum Oxide Layer by Electrical Breakdown

No Won Park, Hanul Kim, Won Yong Lee, Gil Sung Kim, Dae Yun Kang, Tae Geun Kim, Eiji Saitoh, Young Gui Yoon, Heesuk Rho

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

High efficiency thermoelectric (TE) materials still require high thermopower for energy harvesting applications. A simple elemental metallic semiconductor, tellurium (Te), has been considered critical to realize highly efficient TE conversion due to having a large effective band valley degeneracy. This paper demonstrates a novel approach to directly probe the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for one-dimensional Te quantum wires (QWs) formed locally in the aluminum oxide layer by well-controlled electrical breakdown at 300 K. Surprisingly, the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for these Te QWs ≈ 0.8 mV/K at 300 K. This thermopower enhancement for Te QWs is due to Te intrinsic nested band structure and enhanced energy filtering at Te/AO interfaces. Theoretical calculations support the enhanced high Seebeck coefficient for elemental Te QWs in the oxide layer. The local-probed observation and detecting methodology used here offers a novel route to designing enhanced thermoelectric materials and devices in the future.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	8212-8219
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume	12
Issue number	34
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01842
Publication status	Published - 2021 Sept 2

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Korean Government (2019R1A2C1003366, 2020R1A2C1004979, and 2020R1A5A1016518). The authors thank Dr. T. Kikkawa for valuable discussions and technical assistance.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Chemical Society.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Materials Science
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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title = "Giant Thermoelectric Seebeck Coefficients in Tellurium Quantum Wires Formed Vertically in an Aluminum Oxide Layer by Electrical Breakdown",

abstract = "High efficiency thermoelectric (TE) materials still require high thermopower for energy harvesting applications. A simple elemental metallic semiconductor, tellurium (Te), has been considered critical to realize highly efficient TE conversion due to having a large effective band valley degeneracy. This paper demonstrates a novel approach to directly probe the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for one-dimensional Te quantum wires (QWs) formed locally in the aluminum oxide layer by well-controlled electrical breakdown at 300 K. Surprisingly, the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for these Te QWs ≈ 0.8 mV/K at 300 K. This thermopower enhancement for Te QWs is due to Te intrinsic nested band structure and enhanced energy filtering at Te/AO interfaces. Theoretical calculations support the enhanced high Seebeck coefficient for elemental Te QWs in the oxide layer. The local-probed observation and detecting methodology used here offers a novel route to designing enhanced thermoelectric materials and devices in the future.",

author = "Park, {No Won} and Hanul Kim and Lee, {Won Yong} and Kim, {Gil Sung} and Kang, {Dae Yun} and Kim, {Tae Geun} and Eiji Saitoh and Yoon, {Young Gui} and Heesuk Rho",

note = "Funding Information: This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Korean Government (2019R1A2C1003366, 2020R1A2C1004979, and 2020R1A5A1016518). The authors thank Dr. T. Kikkawa for valuable discussions and technical assistance. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 American Chemical Society.",

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doi = "10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01842",

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AU - Park, No Won

AU - Kim, Hanul

AU - Lee, Won Yong

AU - Kim, Gil Sung

AU - Kang, Dae Yun

AU - Kim, Tae Geun

AU - Saitoh, Eiji

AU - Yoon, Young Gui

AU - Rho, Heesuk

N1 - Funding Information: This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Korean Government (2019R1A2C1003366, 2020R1A2C1004979, and 2020R1A5A1016518). The authors thank Dr. T. Kikkawa for valuable discussions and technical assistance. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 American Chemical Society.

PY - 2021/9/2

Y1 - 2021/9/2

N2 - High efficiency thermoelectric (TE) materials still require high thermopower for energy harvesting applications. A simple elemental metallic semiconductor, tellurium (Te), has been considered critical to realize highly efficient TE conversion due to having a large effective band valley degeneracy. This paper demonstrates a novel approach to directly probe the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for one-dimensional Te quantum wires (QWs) formed locally in the aluminum oxide layer by well-controlled electrical breakdown at 300 K. Surprisingly, the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for these Te QWs ≈ 0.8 mV/K at 300 K. This thermopower enhancement for Te QWs is due to Te intrinsic nested band structure and enhanced energy filtering at Te/AO interfaces. Theoretical calculations support the enhanced high Seebeck coefficient for elemental Te QWs in the oxide layer. The local-probed observation and detecting methodology used here offers a novel route to designing enhanced thermoelectric materials and devices in the future.

AB - High efficiency thermoelectric (TE) materials still require high thermopower for energy harvesting applications. A simple elemental metallic semiconductor, tellurium (Te), has been considered critical to realize highly efficient TE conversion due to having a large effective band valley degeneracy. This paper demonstrates a novel approach to directly probe the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for one-dimensional Te quantum wires (QWs) formed locally in the aluminum oxide layer by well-controlled electrical breakdown at 300 K. Surprisingly, the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for these Te QWs ≈ 0.8 mV/K at 300 K. This thermopower enhancement for Te QWs is due to Te intrinsic nested band structure and enhanced energy filtering at Te/AO interfaces. Theoretical calculations support the enhanced high Seebeck coefficient for elemental Te QWs in the oxide layer. The local-probed observation and detecting methodology used here offers a novel route to designing enhanced thermoelectric materials and devices in the future.

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Giant Thermoelectric Seebeck Coefficients in Tellurium Quantum Wires Formed Vertically in an Aluminum Oxide Layer by Electrical Breakdown

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