(Invited) The Use of Silicon-Germanium Superlattices in Thermoelectric Devices and Microfabricated Generators

Abstract

Ferre Llin, L. et al. (2016) The use of silicon-germanium superlattices for thermoelectric devices and microfabricated generators. ECS Transactions, 75(8), pp. 469-478. (doi:10.1149/07508.0469ecst) This is the author's final accepted version.There may be differences between this version and the published version. Low dimensional structures such as superlattices have the potential to improve the thermoelectric properties of materials by engineering the scattering of phonons to reduce the thermal conductivity and therefore improve the thermeoelectric performance. Here we demonstrate the reduction in thermal conductivity in Ge/SiGe superlattices using multiple barrier engineering to scatter acoustic phonons at the key wavelengths for thermal transport. The approach allows ZT to be increased in wide quantum well superlattices through the reduction of heterointerfaces which scatter both electrons and phonons.