Optimization and Characterization of Thermoelectric Properties in Selenium-Doped Bismuth Telluride Ultra Thin Films

TL;DR

This study optimizes the fabrication of selenium-doped bismuth telluride thin films and systematically characterizes their thermoelectric properties, achieving promising performance near room temperature for potential thermoelectric applications.

Contribution

It introduces a precise 3-source thermal co-evaporation method for fabricating high-quality selenium-doped bismuth telluride thin films with controlled stoichiometry and phase.

Findings

Achieved thin films with ~30 nm thickness.

Seebeck coefficient of 400 μV/K.

Power factor of 1 mW/mK².

Abstract

Thermoelectricity in telluride materials is often improved by replacing telluride with selenium in its crystal. Most work, however, focuses on bulk crystal and leaves the 2D thin films intact. In this paper, we optimize the fabrication of selenium-doped bismuth telluride (Bi$_2$Te$_{3-\rm{x}}$Se$_{\rm{x}}$) thin films using a 3-source thermal co-evaporation. Thermoelectric properties, including the Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity, are systematically characterized to evaluate the material's performance for thermoelectric applications near room temperature. The thin films were deposited under carefully controlled conditions, with the evaporation rates of bismuth, tellurium, and selenium precisely monitored to achieve the desired stoichiometry and crystalline phase. Finally, thermoelectricity in Bi$_2$Te$_{3-\rm{x}}$Se$_{\rm{x}}$ at the ultra-thin regime is investigated. We consistently obtain films with thickness near 30 nm with a Seebeck coefficient of 400 $\mu$V/K and a power factor of 1 mW/mK$^2$.