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Thermoelectric Properties of Silicon Nanowire Array and Spin-on Glass Composites Fabricated with CMOS-compatible Techniques

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2012

Benjamin M. Curtin  and
John E. Bowers
Benjamin M. Curtin
Affiliation:
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
John E. Bowers
Affiliation:
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
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Abstract

Silicon nanowires (NWs) are promising thermoelectric materials as they offer large reductions in thermal conductivity over bulk Si without a significant decrease in the Seebeck coefficient or electrical conductivity. In this work, interference lithography was used to pattern a square lattice photoresist template over 2 cm x 2 cm Si substrates. The resulting vertical Si NW arrays were 1 μm tall with a packing density of ~15%, and the diameter of the Si NWs were 80 - 90 nm. The Si NW arrays were then embedded in spin-on glass (SOG) to form a dense composite material with a measured thermal conductivity of 1.45 W/m-K at 300 K. Devices were fabricated for cross-plane Seebeck coefficient measurements and the Si NW/SOG composite was found to have a Seebeck coefficient of roughly -284 μV/K, which is similar to bulk Si with the same doping. We also report a combined power generation of 29.3 μW from both the Si NW array and Si substrate with a temperature difference of 56 K and 50 μm x 50 μm device area.

Keywords

thermoelectricSinanostructure
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1408: Symposium BB – Functional Nanowires and Nanotubes , 2012 , mrsf11-1408-bb11-02
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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References

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