The effects of diffusion barrier layers on the microstructural and electrical properties in CoSb3 thermoelectric modules

Byeongcheol Song; Seokhee Lee; Sungmee Cho; Min Jung Song; Soon Mok Choi; Won Seon Seo; Youngsoo Yoon; Wooyoung Lee

doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.07.066

The effects of diffusion barrier layers on the microstructural and electrical properties in CoSb₃ thermoelectric modules

Byeongcheol Song, Seokhee Lee, Sungmee Cho, Min Jung Song, Soon Mok Choi, Won Seon Seo, Youngsoo Yoon, Wooyoung Lee

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report the microstructure and electrical properties of CoSb₃ legs on which Au, Pt, and Ti are deposited by ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) radio frequency (RF) sputtering. After annealing, an intermetallic compound (IMC) layer, approximately 320 nm thick, forms at the interface of CoSb ₃/Ti. This layer plays a significant role as a diffusion barrier in a CoSb₃ thermoelectric (TE) module. The IMC layer has little effect on the electrical properties of CoSb₃/Ti. However, no IMC layers were observed in CoSb₃/Au and CoSb₃/Pt, where Au and Pt diffused into the CoSb₃ leg to a great depth. Our results demonstrate that a Ti layer on a CoSb₃ leg deposited by a sputtering system is effective to form the IMC layer, preventing further diffusion of Ti and giving rise to enhance the efficiency of CoSb₃ TE modules.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	160-162
Number of pages	3
Journal	Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Volume	617
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.07.066
Publication status	Published - 2014 Dec 25

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by DAPA and ADD under the contract No. UC120037GD , the Priority Research Centers Program ( 2009-0093823 ), and the Pioneer Research Center Program ( 2010-0019313 ) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF).

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Mechanics of Materials
Mechanical Engineering
Metals and Alloys
Materials Chemistry

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.07.066

Cite this

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title = "The effects of diffusion barrier layers on the microstructural and electrical properties in CoSb3 thermoelectric modules",

abstract = "We report the microstructure and electrical properties of CoSb3 legs on which Au, Pt, and Ti are deposited by ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) radio frequency (RF) sputtering. After annealing, an intermetallic compound (IMC) layer, approximately 320 nm thick, forms at the interface of CoSb 3/Ti. This layer plays a significant role as a diffusion barrier in a CoSb3 thermoelectric (TE) module. The IMC layer has little effect on the electrical properties of CoSb3/Ti. However, no IMC layers were observed in CoSb3/Au and CoSb3/Pt, where Au and Pt diffused into the CoSb3 leg to a great depth. Our results demonstrate that a Ti layer on a CoSb3 leg deposited by a sputtering system is effective to form the IMC layer, preventing further diffusion of Ti and giving rise to enhance the efficiency of CoSb3 TE modules.",

author = "Byeongcheol Song and Seokhee Lee and Sungmee Cho and Song, {Min Jung} and Choi, {Soon Mok} and Seo, {Won Seon} and Youngsoo Yoon and Wooyoung Lee",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by DAPA and ADD under the contract No. UC120037GD , the Priority Research Centers Program ( 2009-0093823 ), and the Pioneer Research Center Program ( 2010-0019313 ) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). ",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.07.066",

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T1 - The effects of diffusion barrier layers on the microstructural and electrical properties in CoSb3 thermoelectric modules

AU - Song, Byeongcheol

AU - Lee, Seokhee

AU - Cho, Sungmee

AU - Song, Min Jung

AU - Choi, Soon Mok

AU - Seo, Won Seon

AU - Yoon, Youngsoo

AU - Lee, Wooyoung

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by DAPA and ADD under the contract No. UC120037GD , the Priority Research Centers Program ( 2009-0093823 ), and the Pioneer Research Center Program ( 2010-0019313 ) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF).

PY - 2014/12/25

Y1 - 2014/12/25

N2 - We report the microstructure and electrical properties of CoSb3 legs on which Au, Pt, and Ti are deposited by ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) radio frequency (RF) sputtering. After annealing, an intermetallic compound (IMC) layer, approximately 320 nm thick, forms at the interface of CoSb 3/Ti. This layer plays a significant role as a diffusion barrier in a CoSb3 thermoelectric (TE) module. The IMC layer has little effect on the electrical properties of CoSb3/Ti. However, no IMC layers were observed in CoSb3/Au and CoSb3/Pt, where Au and Pt diffused into the CoSb3 leg to a great depth. Our results demonstrate that a Ti layer on a CoSb3 leg deposited by a sputtering system is effective to form the IMC layer, preventing further diffusion of Ti and giving rise to enhance the efficiency of CoSb3 TE modules.

AB - We report the microstructure and electrical properties of CoSb3 legs on which Au, Pt, and Ti are deposited by ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) radio frequency (RF) sputtering. After annealing, an intermetallic compound (IMC) layer, approximately 320 nm thick, forms at the interface of CoSb 3/Ti. This layer plays a significant role as a diffusion barrier in a CoSb3 thermoelectric (TE) module. The IMC layer has little effect on the electrical properties of CoSb3/Ti. However, no IMC layers were observed in CoSb3/Au and CoSb3/Pt, where Au and Pt diffused into the CoSb3 leg to a great depth. Our results demonstrate that a Ti layer on a CoSb3 leg deposited by a sputtering system is effective to form the IMC layer, preventing further diffusion of Ti and giving rise to enhance the efficiency of CoSb3 TE modules.

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