Thermal diffusivity and thermoelectric figure of merit of Al1−xInxN prepared by reactive radio-frequency sputtering

We studied the thermal properties of AlN, InN, and Al1−xInxN films, prepared by reactive sputtering, as a function of the temperature. The results indicated minimum thermal diffusivities of 3.14×10−6 m2/s for AlN, 7.65×10−7 m2/s for InN, 7.53×10−7 m2/s for Al0.57In0.43N, and 7.03×10−7 m2/s for Al0.28In0.72N. We estimated the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit to be 0.1 for Al0.28In0.72N at 873 K.

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