Photon treatment effect on the hardness and surface adhesion of thermoelectric legs based on Bi2Te3‑Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3‑Sb2Te3 systems
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: In this work, the composition, morphology and mechanical properties of the surface of semiconductor thermoelectric legs before and after the pulsed photon treatment were studied. The n-type (Bi2Te3‑Bi2Se3) and the p-type (Bi2Te3‑Sb2Te3) legs fabricated by a hot pressing method were treated using a special technique, including mechanical polishing, pulsed photon irradiation with xenon lamps and electrochemical etching. The pulsed photon treatment significantly enhanced mechanical properties and adhesion hardness of the thermoelectric legs. The mechanical polishing followed by the pulsed photon treatment increased the adhesion of the barrier and commutation Mo / Ni layers three- and twofold for the n-type and p-type legs, respectively. The pulsed photon treatment stimulated local recrystallization of the surface defect layer up to 100 – 200 nm in-depth under an effective temperature of about 800 K in the near-surface layer of branches. Besides, the pulsed photon treatment increased the surface hardness of the Bi2Te3‑Bi2Se3 system by 1.2 times. The surface modification of thermoelectric legs through the pulsed photon treatment did not decline the barrier properties of the Mo-layer in Ni-Mo-Bi2Te3 + Bi2Se3 heterostructures.
Source: Letters on Materials
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3021447448