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摘要
Infrared (IR) power generation is emerging as a useful method to harvest IR light and transform it into usable energy available day and night. Here, the authors continue the effort to fabricate thin thermoelectric TiO2/TiN nanolaminate films via atomic layer deposition (ALD) and, specifically, focus on the effects of film sheet resistance R-s on the voltage produced by nanopower generator devices with these films as their active elements. By changing the number and the thickness of the TiO2/TiN nanolaminate, the authors control the sheet resistance Rs over 3 orders of magnitude. The authors observe that the voltage produced by nanopower generator devices increases with R-s and exhibits two roughly linear regimes. In the first regime, when R-s< 1 k Omega/square, the nanopower generator produces a voltage which slowly increases with increasing Rs with a slope of approximately 0.6 x 10(-7) mV (square/Omega). The second regime appears in films with R-s> 1 k Omega/square, where the slope characterizing the increase of voltage with sheet resistance Rs is approximately 7.5 x 10(-7) mV (square/Omega). The existence of these two regimes is consistent with the hypothesis that the nanopower generator device works as an electric circuit in which the produced voltage is proportional to root R, where R is resistance. Although models can be developed to explain the mechanisms of voltage and temperature production when the nanopower generator devices are illuminated by the IR light, it is not entirely clear with the data available so far what explains the observed values of voltage, and what the effects of errors might be on them. Further investigations will be focusing on these issues. Nevertheless, the observed trends between produced voltage and sheet resistance are interesting. These studies pave the way to improving the performance of nanopower generator devices by increasing the R-s of the active materials in the form of thin films fabricated via ALD.
- 出版日期2017-2
