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Unique hierarchical structure and high thermoelectric properties of antimony telluride pillar arrays

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Abstract

The p-type antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) pillar arrays with unique hierarchical architecture have been self-assembled in large scale by a simple vacuum thermal evaporation technique. The composition and the microstructure of the films are studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the hierarchical film with multi-scale and multi-dimensional structure is well-oriented pillar arrays perpendicular to the substrate. A large number of nanowires (NWs) are assembled into a submicro/micro-scaled pillar, while antisite defects and dislocations as well as other defects are found in the one-dimensional NWs. The growth mechanism of such nanostructure is proposed and investigated. The thermoelectric (TE) properties, i.e., electrical conductivity (σ), Seebeck coefficient (S), and thermal conductivity (κ) of the films are measured. The properties of the hierarchical Sb2Te3 film have been greatly enhanced in comparison with those of the ordinary Sb2Te3 films. A TE dimensionless figure-of-merit ZT = 0.88 in the novel hierarchical Sb2Te3 film is obtained at room temperature.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (Grant No. 2012CB933200), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51172008 and 51002006), Bei**g Technology Topic Program (No. Z111100066511009), Research Fund for Doctor Station Sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China (20111102110035) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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  1. Bei**g Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials and Films, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Bei**g, 100191, China

    Ming Tan, Yuan Deng & Yao Wang

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  1. Ming Tan
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  2. Yuan Deng
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  3. Yao Wang
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Correspondence to Yuan Deng.

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Tan, M., Deng, Y. & Wang, Y. Unique hierarchical structure and high thermoelectric properties of antimony telluride pillar arrays. J Nanopart Res 14, 1204 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-1204-y

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