Seebeck-driven transverse thermoelectric generation in on-chip devices

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates an improved on-chip transverse thermoelectric device using Seebeck-driven generation, achieving over 40 μV/K thermopower by combining magnetic Fe-Ga alloy films with silicon substrates.

Contribution

It introduces a refined device structure that significantly enhances transverse thermopower in on-chip thermoelectric devices using STTG.

Findings

Achieved transverse thermopower over 40 μV/K.

Device performance matches theoretical estimations.

Simple microfabricated structure effectively demonstrates STTG enhancement.

Abstract

An unconventional approach to enhance the transverse thermopower by combining magnetic and thermoelectric materials, namely the Seebeck-driven transverse thermoelectric generation (STTG), has been proposed and demonstrated recently. Here, we improve on the previously used sample structure and achieve large transverse thermopower over 40 $\mu$V K$^{-1}$ due to STTG in on-chip devices. We deposited polycrystalline Fe-Ga alloy films directly on n-type Si substrates, where Fe-Ga and Si serve as the magnetic and thermoelectric materials, respectively. Using microfabrication, contact holes were created through the SiO$_{x}$ layer at the top of Si to electrically connect the Fe-Ga film with the Si substrate. These thin devices with simple structure clearly exhibited enhancement of transverse thermopower due to STTG, and the obtained values agreed well with the estimation over a wide range of the size ratio between the Fe-Ga film and the Si substrate.