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Interface Microstructure and Performance of Sb Contacts in Bismuth Telluride-Based Thermoelectric Elements

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Abstract

A thermoelectric joint composed of p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 (BiSbTe) material and an antimony (Sb) interlayer was fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The reliability of the thermoelectric joints was investigated using electron probe microanalysis for samples with different accelerated isothermal aging time. After aging for 30 days at 300°C in vacuum, the thickness of the diffusion layer at the BiSbTe/Sb interface was about 30 μm, and Sb2Te3 was identified to be the major interfacial compound by element analysis. The contact resistivity was 3 × 10−6 ohm cm2 before aging and increased to 8.5 × 10−6 ohm cm2 after aging for 30 days at 300°C, an increase associated with the thickness of the interfacial compound. This contact resistivity is very small compared with that of samples with solder alloys as the interlayer. In addition, we have also investigated the interface behavior of Sb layers integrated with n-type Bi2Se0.3Te2.7 (BiSeTe) material, and obtained similar results as for the p-type semiconductor. The present study suggests that Sb may be useful as a new interlayer material for bismuth telluride-based power generation devices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai, 200050, China

    Fei Li, Xiangyang Huang & Lidong Chen

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China

    Fei Li

  3. College of Material Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Songjiang, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Wan Jiang

Authors
  1. Fei Li
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  2. Xiangyang Huang
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  3. Wan Jiang
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  4. Lidong Chen
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Correspondence to Xiangyang Huang.

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Li, F., Huang, X., Jiang, W. et al. Interface Microstructure and Performance of Sb Contacts in Bismuth Telluride-Based Thermoelectric Elements. J. Electron. Mater. 42, 1219–1224 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-013-2566-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-013-2566-3

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