P-type Al-doped Cr-deficient CrN thin films for thermoelectrics. (18th April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: le Febvrier, Arnaud; Van Nong, Ngo; Abadias, Gregory; Eklund, Per
• Is Part Of: Applied physics express. Volume 11:Number 5(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-04-18
• Subjects: Physics -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals; 621.05
• DOI: 10.7567/APEX.11.051003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1882-0778

Abstract

Abstract: Thermoelectric properties of chromium nitride (CrN)-based films grown on c-plane sapphire by dc reactive magnetron sputtering were investigated. In this work, aluminum doping was introduced in CrN (degenerate n-type semiconductor) by co-deposition. Under the present deposition conditions, over-stoichiometry in nitrogen (CrN1+δ ) rock-salt structure is obtained. A p-type conduction is observed with nitrogen-rich CrN combined with aluminum doping. The Cr0.96 Al0.04 N1.17 film exhibited a high Seebeck coefficient and a sufficient power factor at 300 °C. These results are a starting point for designing p-type/n-type thermoelectric materials based on chromium nitride films, which are cheap and routinely grown on the industrial scale.