FABRICATION OF NANOVOID-IMBEDDED BISMUTH TELLURIDE WITH LOW DIMENSIONAL SYSTEM

摘要

A new fabrication method for nanovoids-imbedded bismuth telluride (Bi-Te) material with low dimensional (quantum-dots, quantum-wires, or quantum-wells) structure was conceived during the development of advanced thermoelectric (TE) materials. Bismuth telluride is currently the best-known candidate material for solid-state TE cooling devices because it possesses the highest TE figure of merit at room temperature. The innovative process described here allows nanometer-scale voids to be incorporated in Bi-Te material. The final nanovoid structure such as void size, size distribution, void location, etc. can be also controlled under various process conditions.