Thermoelectric Thin Film Device of Cross-Plane Configuration Processed by Electrodeposition and Flip-Chip Bonding

Abstract

Using electrodeposition and flip-chip bonding, a cross-plane thin film device consisting of 242 pairs of the electrodeposited n-type Bi-Te and p-type Sb-Te thin film legs was successfully fabricated. The electrodeposited Bi-Te films with the thickness of 2.5-20.2 mu m exhibited the Seebeck coefficients of -52 to -59 mu V/K and the power factors of 5.5-5.1 x 10(-4)W/m.K-2. While the Seebeck coefficient of the Sb-Te film varied from 276 to 485 mu V/K, the power factor was changed from 81 x 10(-4) to 50 x 10(-4)W/m.K-2 with increasing the film thickness from 2.2 to 20.5 mu m. The internal resistance of the thin film device consisting of 242 pairs of the electrodeposited n-p thin film legs was measured as 3.7K Omega. The open-circuit voltage and the maximum output power of the thin film device were 0.294 V and 5.9 mu W, respectively, with the temperature difference of 22.3K across the hot and cold ends of the thin film device.