THERMOELECTRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THERMOPILE SENSORS PROCESSED WITH THE ELECTRODEPOSITED Bi-Te AND Sb-Te THIN FILMS

Abstract

A thermopile sensor composed of 196 pairs of p-n thin film legs was processed on a glass substrate by using successive electrodeposition of the n-type Bi-Te and the p-type Sb-Te thin films. The 5.3-mu m thick Bi-Te film, electrodeposited at a constant voltage of -50 mV in the 50-mM electrolyte with the Bi/(Bi + Te) mole ratio of 0.5, exhibited a Seebeck coefficient of -67 mu V/K. The 5.2-mu m thick Sb-Te film, electrodeposited at a constant voltage of 20 mV in the 70-mM solution with the Sb/(Sb + Te) mole ratio of 0.9, possessed a Seebeck coefficient of 63 mu V/K. The thermopile sensor exhibited the sensitivities of 13.1 mV/K with temperature differences smaller than 9K and of 27.3 mV/K with temperature differences larger than 9K respectively, across the hot and cold ends.