Nonlinear response behavior of Fe/Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 artificially tilted multilayer thermoelectric devices to thermal contact

The response behavior of artificially tilted multilayer thermoelectric devices (ATMTDs) to thermal radiation has been intensely investigated for remote thermal detection; however, their response behavior to thermal contact is still not well understood. In this letter, Fe/Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 ATMTDs have been fabricated by alternately stacking metallic Fe layers and Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 layers to reveal the response behavior to thermal contact. It was found that the transverse thermoelectric voltages (Delta V-x) of the ATMTDs once contacting heat source were rapidly raised in the first seconds and then nonlinearly attenuated after reaching maximum Delta V-x. A one-dimensional unsteady heat transfer model was proposed to reveal the attenuation process, which obeys an exponential variation and strongly depends on the heat source temperature. Using the ATMTDs as temperature sensors, the detection uncertainty can be less than 1 K. This work has demonstrated great potential application of the ATMTDs in the field of contact-type temperature detection. Published by AIP Publishing.