Effect of aging on thermoelectric properties of the Bi2Te3 polycrystals and thin films

Abstract

The temperature dependences (77-300 K) of the thermoelectric (TE) properties (the Seebeck coefficient S, electrical conductivity σ, Hall coefficient RH, Hall charge mobility μH>, and TE power factor P) were studied for freshly prepared and for exposed to air at room temperature during 5 years p-Bi2Te3 (60.0 at.% Te) and n-Bi2Te3 (62.8 at.% Te) polycrystals and thin films grown from them by thermal evaporation in vacuum. It was found that after aging, in the p- and n-Bi2Te3 bulk crystals and in the n-type film obtained from the n-Bi2Te3 crystal, type of conductivity is reserved but the p-type film obtained from the p-Bi2Te3 crystal, change the type of conductivity from hole to electronic. The activation energies of possible defect states were determined using the RH(T) dependences. After aging, at the temperatures close to room temperature, the p values of n-Bi2Te3 and p-Bi2Te3 polycrystals decreases by ~ 20 %, but p values of the n-type film grown from n-Bi2Te3 crystal increases by 20-30 %. In the p-type film obtained from p-Bi2Te3 polycrystal, and having changed the type of conductivity after aging, the p values exceed the p values of a film obtained from n-Bi2Te3 polycrystal by ~ 35 % at 250 K and by 25 % at 300 K, remaining at these temperatures below the p values for n-Bi2Te3 polycrystal after aging by ~ 15 %.