Possibility of enhancing the thermoelectric figure of merit of ZnO by sulfur incorporation

The thermal conductivity κ of ZnO can be significantly suppressed by alloying with a few percent of S offering the possibility of enhancing the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT. κ of radio-frequency sputtered wurtzite ZnO1–xSx thin-films was measured in the entire composition range x employing the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2013-08, Vol.103 (8)
Main Authors: Gather, F., Kronenberger, A., Hartung, D., Becker, M., Polity, A., Klar, P. J., Meyer, B. K.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The thermal conductivity κ of ZnO can be significantly suppressed by alloying with a few percent of S offering the possibility of enhancing the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT. κ of radio-frequency sputtered wurtzite ZnO1–xSx thin-films was measured in the entire composition range x employing the 3ω-method. Both, incorporation of low amounts of S in ZnO and of O in ZnS reduce κ of the ZnO1–xSx-samples compared to the two binary compounds. The origin of the reduction of κ in the alloys is the formation of localized vibrational modes of S in ZnO and O in ZnS.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4819158