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Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancements in High-Performance Thermoelectric Thin Films Through Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering
Published on: May 17, 2024
Thermoelectric transport properties of Si, SiGe, and silicide CMOS-compatible thin films
Caroline Schwinge1, Raik Hoffmann1, Johannes Hertel1
1Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS, An der Bartlake 5, 01109 Dresden, Germany.
Abstract:
Characterization of thermoelectric transport properties for temperature sensing, cooling, and energy harvesting applications is necessary for a reliable device performance in progressively minimized computer chips. In this contribution, we present a fully automated thermovoltage and sheet resistance measurement setup, which is calibrated and tested for the production of silicon- and silicon-germanium-doped as well as silicide complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible thin films. A LabVIEW-programmed software application automatically controls the measurement and recording of thermovoltages at individually defined temperature set points. The setup maps average temperature and temperature differences simultaneously in the regime from 40 to 70 °C. The Seebeck coefficient calculated by means of the inversion method was used to eliminate the offset voltage influence. Finally, we present and discuss the Seebeck coefficient as well as the sheet resistance for application-specific different temperature set points of several doped poly-Si, poly-SiGe, and silicides.
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