Enhanced Thermoelectric Transport and Stability in Atomic Layer Deposited HfO2/ZnO and TiO2/ZnO Sandwiched Multilayer Thin Films

Jenichi Clairvaux Felizco, Taneli Juntunen, Mutsunori Uenuma*, Jarkko Etula, Camilla Tossi, Yasuaki Ishikawa, Ilkka Tittonen, Yukiharu Uraoka

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
108 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Herein, enhancements in thermoelectric (TE) performance, both the power factor (PF) and thermal stability, are exhibited by sandwiching HfO2 and TiO2 layers onto atomic layer deposited-ZnO thin films. High-temperature TE measurements from 300 to 450 K revealed an almost two-fold improvement in electrical conductivity for TiO2/ZnO (TZO) samples, primarily owing to an increase in carrier concentration by Ti doping. On the other hand, HfO2/ZnO (HZO) achieved the highest PF values owing to maintaining Seebeck coefficients comparable to pure ZnO. HZO also exhibited excellent stability after multiple thermal cycles, which has not been previously observed for pure or doped ZnO thin films. Such improvement in both TE properties and thermal stability of HZO can be attributed to a shift in crystalline orientation from the a axis to c axis, as well as the high bond dissociation energy of Hf-O, stabilizing the ZnO structure. These unique properties exhibited by HZO and TZO thin films synthesized by atomic layer deposition pave the way for next-generation transparent TE devices.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)49210-49218
Number of pages9
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume12
Issue number43
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Oct 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

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