Projects
Electrochemical Deposition of Thermoelectric Materials
Project description
Thermoelectric energy harvesting, i.e. the transformation of waste heat into electrical energy, is a promising approach for the development of energy independent sensor networks. The material of choice for these harvesters is Bi2Te3 and related alloys, as they have unsurpassed properties in the targeted temperature range around room temperature. The fabrication of thin films of these materials, however, is challenging and expensive, as it usually requires advanced deposition methods like evaporation or sputtering. Electrochemical deposition offers an interesting alternative, as it is a cheap and widely available method. While the material quality of electroplated Bi2Te3 films is currently usually mediocre, there are various methods for improvement which have not been fully explored, e.g. post deposition annealing. In this project, we aim to improve the existing methods for the electrochemical fabrication of BiTe3 related materials in order to achieve high quality materials. Furthermore, we develop the methods to integrate the materials into small scale devices within the available clean room facilities. The final goal is the fabrication of high quality thin film devices for energy harvesting applications.
Start/End of project
01.08.2009 until 31.01.2013
Project manager
Dr. Michael Kröner (Prof. Dr. Peter Woias)
Contact person
Dr. Michael Kröner, Raimar Rostek
Phone:0761 203 7584
Email:kroener@imtek.de
Funding
Graduiertenkolleg Energy Harvesting