Electrical and structural properties of Ce0.9CoFe3Sb12 thermoelectric thin films

In this work, we show experimental results for growth conditions of thermoelectric Ce0.9CoFe3Sb12 thin films. An rf-magnetron sputtering system has been used to grow the films on single crystal substrates of sapphire (Al2O3), silicon (Si), and magnesium oxide (MgO) at different substrate temperatures between 250 and 450 °C. The films were thermoelectrically characterized with resistivity and thermopower measurements as functions of temperature. The results show linear behavior of resistivity with temperature, and thermopower growth with the temperature increase. Such behavior is typical for metallic materials. The structure and surface morphology of the samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction pattern and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively.