Optimizing Thermoelectric Power Factor in p-Type Hydrogenated Nano-crystalline Silicon Thin Films by Varying Carrier Concentration

Acosta, Edwin; Smirnov, Vladimir; Szabo, Peter S. B.; Buckman, Jim; Bennett, Nick

doi:10.1007/s11664-019-07036-6

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 61 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, due to the prevailing carrier scattering in the amorphous matrix, PF could not exceed 0.4 mW K

. Comparable results were obtained by Acosta et al [ 77 ], who also analyzed in detail the role played by hydrogen in their system. However, also in this case, the best PF was limited by the presence of the amorphous tissue that, while positively impacting

, limited the PF to

mW K

.…”

Section: Increasing Pf In Polycrystalline Siliconsupporting

confidence: 60%

Recent Advances on Thermoelectric Silicon for Low-Temperature Applications

Narducci

Giulio

2022

Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Silicon is the most widely used functional material, as it is geo-abundant and atoxic. Unfortunately, its efficiency as a thermoelectric material is very poor. In this paper, we present and discuss advances of research on silicon and related materials for thermoelectric applications, mostly focusing on the comparison between the two strategies deployed to increase its performance, namely either reducing its thermal conductivity or, in polycrystalline materials, increasing its power factor. Special attention will be paid to recent results concerning silicon thin films. The enhancement of Si performances has motivated efforts to develop integrated heat microharvesters operating around room temperature, which will be reviewed also in view of their applications to power wireless sensors for the Internet of Things.

show abstract

“…However, due to the prevailing carrier scattering in the amorphous matrix, PF could not exceed 0.4 mW K

, limited the PF to

mW K

.…”

Section: Increasing Pf In Polycrystalline Siliconsupporting

confidence: 60%

Recent Advances on Thermoelectric Silicon for Low-Temperature Applications

Narducci

Giulio

2022

Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…been obtained in microcrystalline p-type silicon. 44 By assuming κ of 10 Wm −1 K −1 , which is reasonably the upper limit for the thermal conductivity of all the samples under investigation, roomtemperature ZT of the sample with C B = 10 20 cm −3 annealed at 550 °C is low at around 10 −3 . The value increases to ∼0.06 for the sample with C B = 10 20 cm −3 and annealed at 600 °C and to ∼0.04 for the sample with C B = 10 21 cm −3 and annealed at 600 °C.…”

Section: Journal Of Applied Physicsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Experimental measurements of κ for non-doped nanocrystalline Si with a nanocrystal size of ∼64 nm also yielded a value below 10 Wm −1 K −1 . 43 Similar values of κ (3.2 and 1.5 Wm −1 K −1 for as-grown and annealed samples at 500 °C, respectively) have also nanosheets (for assembled of Bi 2 Te 3 ), 51 hydrothermal, 52 porous nanowire (Si arrays), 53 polycrystalline nanopatterning (of Si film with phononic crystal), 54 nc hydrogenated (B-doped Si), 44 B-doped polycrystalline Si, 39 p-type, nc hydrogenated Si, 55 in situ B-doped polycrystalline Si film, 56 B-doped polycryslline Si film, 22 and B-doped nanocrystalline Si.…”

Section: Journal Of Applied Physicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4.Comparison of power factor between this work and the state of the art p-type Si-based and Bi 2 Te 3 thermoelectric thin films. References: MOCVD (metalorganic chemical vapor deposition),47 sputtering (Bi 2 Te 3 on polyimide substrate),48 arc-melting (to form nanostructured Bi 2 Te 3 ),49 solvothermal,50 nanosheets (for assembled of Bi 2 Te 3 ),51 hydrothermal,52 porous nanowire (Si arrays),53 polycrystalline nanopatterning (of Si film with phononic crystal),54 nc hydrogenated (B-doped Si),44 B-doped polycrystalline Si, 39 p-type, nc hydrogenated Si,55 in situ B-doped polycrystalline Si film,56 B-doped polycryslline Si film,22 and B-doped nanocrystalline Si 11.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

High thermoelectric power factor of p-type amorphous silicon thin films dispersed with ultrafine silicon nanocrystals

Pham

Vallin

Panda

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Silicon, a candidate as an abundant-element thermoelectric material for low-temperature thermal energy scavenging applications, generally suffers from rather low thermoelectric efficiency. One viable solution to enhancing the efficiency is to boost the power factor (PF) of amorphous silicon (a-Si) while keeping the thermal conductivity sufficiently low. In this work, we report that PF >1 m Wm −1 K −2 is achievable for boron-implanted p-type a-Si films dispersed with ultrafine crystals realized by annealing with temperatures ≤600 °C. Annealing at 550 °C initiates crystallization with sub-5-nm nanocrystals embedded in the a-Si matrix. The resultant thin films remain highly resistive and thus yield a low PF. Annealing at 600 °C approximately doubles the density of the sub-5-nm nanocrystals with a bimodal size distribution characteristic and accordingly reduces the fraction of the amorphous phase in the films. Consequently, a dramatically enhanced electrical conductivity up to 10 4 S/m and hence PF > 1 m Wm −1 K −2 measured at room temperature are achieved. The results show the great potential of silicon in large-scale thermoelectric applications and establish a route toward high-performance energy harvesting and cooling based on silicon thermoelectrics.

show abstract

“…However, due to the prevailing carrier scattering in the amorphous matrix, PF could not exceed 0.4 mW K −2 m −1 . Comparable results were obtained by Acosta et al [52], who analyzed in detail the role played by hydrogen in their system. Also in this case, however, the best PF was limited by the presence of the amorphous tissue that, while positively impacting zT , limited the PF to ≈ 0.2 mW K −2 m −1 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 51%

Exceptional thermoelectric power factors in hyperdoped, fully dehydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films

Narducci

Zulian

Lorenzi

et al. 2021

Applied Physics Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Single-crystalline silicon is well known to be a poor thermoelectric material due to its high thermal conductivity. Most excellent research has focused on ways to decrease its thermal conductivity while retaining acceptably large power factors (PFs). Less effort has been spent to enhance the PF in poly-and nanocrystalline silicon, instead. Here we show that in boron-hyperdoped nanocrystalline thin films PF may be increased up to 33 mW K −2 m −1 at 300 K when hydrogen embedded in the film during deposition is removed. The result makes nanocrystalline Si a realistic competitor of Bi 2 Te 3 for low-temperature heat harvesting, also due to its greater geo-availability and lower cost.

show abstract

Optimizing Thermoelectric Power Factor in p-Type Hydrogenated Nano-crystalline Silicon Thin Films by Varying Carrier Concentration

Cited by 7 publications

References 61 publications

Recent Advances on Thermoelectric Silicon for Low-Temperature Applications

Recent Advances on Thermoelectric Silicon for Low-Temperature Applications

High thermoelectric power factor of p-type amorphous silicon thin films dispersed with ultrafine silicon nanocrystals

Exceptional thermoelectric power factors in hyperdoped, fully dehydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About