Electrodeposition and Thermoelectric Characteristics of Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 Films for Thermopile Sensor Applications

A thermopile sensor was processed on a glass substrate by electrodeposition of n-type bismuth telluride (Bi-Te) and p-type antimony telluride (Sb-Te) films. The n-type Bi-Te film electrodeposited at -50 mV in a 50 mM electrolyte with a Bi/(Bi + Te) mole ratio of 0.5 exhibited a Seebeck coefficient of -51.6 mu V/K and a power factor of 7.1 x 10(-4) W/K-2 center dot A m. The p-type Sb-Te film electroplated at 20 mV in a 70 mM solution with an Sb/(Sb + Te) mole ratio of 0.9 exhibited a Seebeck coefficient of 52.1 mu V/K and a power factor of 1.7 x 10(-4) W/K-2 center dot A m. A thermopile sensor composed of 196 pairs of the p-type Sb-Te and the n-type Bi-Te thin-film legs exhibited sensitivity of 7.3 mV/K.