Characterizations of Seebeck coefficients and thermoelectric figures of merit for AlInN alloys with various In-contents

Thermoelectric properties of AlInN alloys, grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), with In-contents (x) from 11% up to 21.34% were characterized and analyzed at room temperature. The thermoelectric figure of merit (Z*T) values of the n-Al1-xInxN alloys were measured as high as 0.391 up to 0.532 at T = 300 K. The use of high In-content (x = 21.34%) AlInN alloys leads to significant reduction in thermal conductivity [kappa = 1.62 W/(mK)] due to the increased alloy scattering, however, the optimized thermoelectric material was obtained for AlInN alloy with In-content of 17% attributed to its large power factor. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3553880]