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 3.14x10(-6) m(2)/s for AlN, 7.65x10(-7) m(2)/s for InN, 7.53x10(-7) m(2)/s for Al0.57In0.43N, and 7.03x10(-7) m(2)/s for Al0.28In0.72N. We estimated the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit to be 0.1 for Al0.28In0.72N at 873 K. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.