Growth and thermoelectric properties of few-layered Bismuth Oxyselenide
Résumé
Thermoelectric (TE) materials are being explored as a renewable energy which is vital in preserving earth as it can serve as a transducer to transfer the heat absorbed to electricity and vice versa. The performance of a TE material is governed by a dimensionless figure of merit (ZT = S2σ/κ) where S is the Seebeck coefficient, σ is the electrical conductivity and κ is the thermal conductivity. To obtain a high ZT, the TE material must exhibit high S and σ with low κ. Strategies such as external doping to increase carrier concentration to achieve higher σ is ineffective in enhancing ZT as both κ and σ are positively correlated by Wiedemann-Franz law while S is negatively correlated to them[1]. The strong interdependencies of the parameters constituting ZT is one of the main challenges to optimize the TE performance of a material. Two-dimension (2D) nanomaterials have been predicted and demonstrated to possess superior TE properties as compared to their 3D counterpart due to quantum confinement effect. In addition, the use of low-dimensional material enables the modulation of the carrier concentration and bandgap of material through field-effect and strain, respectively. Bismuth Oxyselenide (Bi2O2Se) is an emerging 2D ferroelectric material which has attracted much research interest due to its excellent properties such as low thermal conductivity, ultrahigh mobility, Rashba spin-splitting, as well as good air stability[1-4]. Such characteristics in a nano material are required to be an outstanding candidate for thermoelectricity when it comes to clean energy or wearable devices[5]. In this report, we present the Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) growth of high quality few-layered Bi2O2Se as well as its high Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity measured through the fan-out electrode test structure.