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A Systematic Study of the Thermoelectric Properties of GaN-based Wide Band Gap Semiconductors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2012

Elisa N. Hurwitz ,
Bahadir Kucukgok ,
Andrew G. Melton ,
ZhiQiang Liu ,
Na Lu  and
Ian T. Ferguson
Elisa N. Hurwitz
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, U.S.A.
Bahadir Kucukgok
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, U.S.A.
Andrew G. Melton
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, U.S.A.
ZhiQiang Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, U.S.A. Lighting Research & Development Center, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, China
Na Lu
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Technology and Construction Management, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, U.S.A.
Ian T. Ferguson
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, U.S.A.
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Abstract

In this paper the thermoelectric properties–the Seebeck coefficient, the electrical conductivity and the power factor – of GaN and InGaN thin films grown by Metal Organic Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) are reported. The Seebeck coefficient and power factor of InGaN decreases with increasing indium content, although the electrical conductivity shows an inverse behavior. P-type doped samples demonstrated the highest Seebeck coefficient (637 μV/K in GaN:Mg, 1200 μV/K in InGaN:Mg) but the lowest power factor (0.1x10-4 W/m-K for GaN:Mg, 0.4x10-4 W/m-K for InGaN:Mg). The Seebeck coefficient of the doped GaN thin films decreased linearly with log of the carrier concentration. GaN:Si exhibited a maximum power factor of 9.1x10-4 W/m-K with a carrier concentration of 1.6x1018 cm-3, and In0.1Ga0.9N exhibited a maximum power factor of 109x10-4 W/m-K with a carrier concentration of 1.2x1018 cm-3. The results also indicate that GaN and InGaN-based materials could potentially be useful materials for TE applications at high temperatures.

Keywords

thermoelectricthin filmnitride
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1396: Symposium O – Compound Semiconductors for Generating, Emitting and Manipulating Energy , 2012 , mrsf11-1396-o08-10
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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References

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