A planar thermoelectric power generator for integration in wearable microsystems

A technique for IC-compatible fabrication of a planar (in-plane) thermoelectric (TE) power generator using a thermopile composed of n-type bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) and p-type antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) thin-films is presented. The research demonstrates that the thermal co-evaporation of bismuth/antimony (Bi/Sb) and telluride (Te) is the most suitable deposition technique. The measurements showed TE performance properties of the deposited thin-films that are comparable to those reported for the same materials in the bulk form. The measurements showed absolute values of the Seebeck coefficient in the range 91–248 VK −1 , an electrical resistivity in the 7.6–39.1� m range and a thermal conduction between 1.3 and 1.8 W m−1 K−1. The best resulting figures-of-merit, ZT, at room temperatures were 0.97 and 0.56 (equivalent to power-factors, PF, of 4.87 × 10 −3

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