The incessant downscaling of building blocks for memory and logic in computer chips requires energy-efficient devices. Thermoelectric-based temperature sensing, cooling as well as energy harvesting could be useful methods to reach reliable device performance with stable operating temperatures. For these applications, complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible and application ready thin films are needed and have to be optimized. In this work, we investigate the power factor of different phosphorous-doped silicon germanium (SiGe) films fabricated in a 300 mm CMOS-compatible cleanroom. For the thermoelectric characterization, we used a custom-built setup to determine the Seebeck coefficient and sheet resistance. For sample preparation, we used low pressure chemical vapor deposition with in situ doping and subsequent rapid thermal annealing on 300 mm wafers. Thin film properties, such as film thickness (12–250 nm), elemental composition, crystallinity, and microstructure, are studied via spectroscopic ellipsometry, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and TEM. The SiGe-based thin films vary in the ratio of Si to Ge to P and doping concentrations. A power factor of 0.52 mW/m K2 could be reached by doping variation. Our results show that SiGe is a very attractive CMOS-compatible material on the 300 mm wafer level and is immediately ready for production of thermoelectric embedded applications.
We report the thermoelectric characterization of Ru2Si3 thin films. Ruthenium (VI)-silicide was formed via silicidation by rapid thermal processing of ruthenium on amorphous, undoped silicon of different thicknesses (sub-50 nm). 300 mm wafer level processes were applied, utilizing physical and chemical vapor deposition methods. High-temperature-XRD, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry confirm the formation of single-phase Ru2Si3 thin films. Thermoelectric measurements reveal exceptionally high Seebeck coefficients of up to 1.5 mV/K close to room temperature in dependence of adjustable oxide nanoskins. Due to the thermal stability of the nanoskins, fine-tuning of the thermoelectric properties by rapid thermal processing could be applied in a large temperature range.
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