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Pulsed laser deposition and thermoelectric properties of In- and Yb-doped CoSb3 skutterudite thin films

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Abstract

In- and Yb-doped CoSb3 thin films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition. Process optimization studies revealed that a very narrow process window exists for the growth of single-phase skutterudite films. The electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient measured in the temperature range 300–700 K revealed an irreversible change on the first heating cycle in argon ambient, which is attributed to the enhanced surface roughness of the films or trace secondary phases. A power factor of 0.68 W m−1 K−1 was obtained at ∼700 K, which is nearly six times lower than that of bulk samples. This difference is attributed to grain boundary scattering that causes a drop in film conductivity.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

HA acknowledges the baseline funding from King Abdallah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the faculty initiated collaboration fund (FIC) grant. T.M. Tritt would like to acknowledge the financial support from Department of Energy/Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DOE/EPSCoR) Implementation Grant No. (DE-FG02-04ER-46139) for the work at Clemson.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

    S.R. Sarath Kumar & H.N. Alshareef

  2. Nanotechnology Centre, King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, 11442, Saudi Arabia

    A. Alyamani

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, South Carolina, 29634, USA

    J.W. Graff & T.M. Tritt

Authors
  1. S.R. Sarath Kumar
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  2. A. Alyamani
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  3. J.W. Graff
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  4. T.M. Tritt
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  5. H.N. Alshareef
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Correspondence to H.N. Alshareef.

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Sarath Kumar, S., Alyamani, A., Graff, J. et al. Pulsed laser deposition and thermoelectric properties of In- and Yb-doped CoSb3 skutterudite thin films. Journal of Materials Research 26, 1836–1841 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2011.198

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2011.198

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