Stable and low contact resistance electrical contacts for high temperature SiGe thermoelectric generators

Bo Zhang; Tao Zheng; Qingxiao Wang; Zaibing Guo; Moon J. Kim; Husam N. Alshareef; Bruce E. Gnade

doi:10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.03.040

Stable and low contact resistance electrical contacts for high temperature SiGe thermoelectric generators

Bo Zhang, Tao Zheng, Qingxiao Wang, Zaibing Guo, Moon J. Kim, Husam N. Alshareef, Bruce E. Gnade^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Material Science and Engineering

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

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The thermal stability and contact resistance of TaAlN thin films as electrical contacts to SiGe thermoelectric elements are reported. We demonstrate that a sharp interface is maintained after the device annealed at 800 ^°C for over 100 h, indicating that no interdiffusion takes place between TaAlN and SiGe. A specific contact resistivity of (2.1 ± 1.3) × 10⁻⁶ Ω-cm² for p-type SiGe and (2.8 ± 1.6) × 10⁻⁵ Ω-cm² for n-type SiGe is demonstrated after the high temperature annealing. These results show that TaAlN is a promising contact material for high temperature thermoelectrics such as SiGe.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	36-39
Number of pages	4
Journal	Scripta Materialia
Volume	152
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.03.040
State	Published - Jul 15 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Annealing
Electrical contacts
Refractory metals
Sputtering
Thermoelectric materials

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Condensed Matter Physics
Mechanics of Materials
Mechanical Engineering
Metals and Alloys
General Materials Science

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10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.03.040

Cite this

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title = "Stable and low contact resistance electrical contacts for high temperature SiGe thermoelectric generators",

abstract = "The thermal stability and contact resistance of TaAlN thin films as electrical contacts to SiGe thermoelectric elements are reported. We demonstrate that a sharp interface is maintained after the device annealed at 800 °C for over 100 h, indicating that no interdiffusion takes place between TaAlN and SiGe. A specific contact resistivity of (2.1 ± 1.3) × 10−6 Ω-cm2 for p-type SiGe and (2.8 ± 1.6) × 10−5 Ω-cm2 for n-type SiGe is demonstrated after the high temperature annealing. These results show that TaAlN is a promising contact material for high temperature thermoelectrics such as SiGe.",

keywords = "Annealing, Electrical contacts, Refractory metals, Sputtering, Thermoelectric materials",

author = "Bo Zhang and Tao Zheng and Qingxiao Wang and Zaibing Guo and Kim, {Moon J.} and Alshareef, {Husam N.} and Gnade, {Bruce E.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2018",

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day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.03.040",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "152",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Stable and low contact resistance electrical contacts for high temperature SiGe thermoelectric generators

AU - Zhang, Bo

AU - Zheng, Tao

AU - Wang, Qingxiao

AU - Guo, Zaibing

AU - Kim, Moon J.

AU - Alshareef, Husam N.

AU - Gnade, Bruce E.

PY - 2018/7/15

Y1 - 2018/7/15

N2 - The thermal stability and contact resistance of TaAlN thin films as electrical contacts to SiGe thermoelectric elements are reported. We demonstrate that a sharp interface is maintained after the device annealed at 800 °C for over 100 h, indicating that no interdiffusion takes place between TaAlN and SiGe. A specific contact resistivity of (2.1 ± 1.3) × 10−6 Ω-cm2 for p-type SiGe and (2.8 ± 1.6) × 10−5 Ω-cm2 for n-type SiGe is demonstrated after the high temperature annealing. These results show that TaAlN is a promising contact material for high temperature thermoelectrics such as SiGe.

AB - The thermal stability and contact resistance of TaAlN thin films as electrical contacts to SiGe thermoelectric elements are reported. We demonstrate that a sharp interface is maintained after the device annealed at 800 °C for over 100 h, indicating that no interdiffusion takes place between TaAlN and SiGe. A specific contact resistivity of (2.1 ± 1.3) × 10−6 Ω-cm2 for p-type SiGe and (2.8 ± 1.6) × 10−5 Ω-cm2 for n-type SiGe is demonstrated after the high temperature annealing. These results show that TaAlN is a promising contact material for high temperature thermoelectrics such as SiGe.

KW - Annealing

KW - Electrical contacts

KW - Refractory metals

KW - Sputtering

KW - Thermoelectric materials

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045462549&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.03.040

DO - 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.03.040

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85045462549

SN - 1359-6462

VL - 152

SP - 36

EP - 39

JO - Scripta Materialia

JF - Scripta Materialia

ER -

Stable and low contact resistance electrical contacts for high temperature SiGe thermoelectric generators

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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