Rapid room-temperature screening of thermoelectric power factors in thin films
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Thin film thermoelectrics offer compact energy-harvesting and precise cooling solutions for micro-electronics central to Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence technologies. Advancing these applications requires rapid and reliable experimental screening methods to identify high‑performance thermoelectric materials at the thin‑film scale. Here, we present a semi‑automated, Python‑controlled platform for fast room‑temperature evaluation of thin‑film thermoelectric power factors. The system integrates a 3D‑printed sample holder with built‑in thermocouple probes, a sourcemeter, and a multimeter, all operated through a custom graphical user interface that enables streamlined, repeatable measurements of electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient with minimal user input. Benchmarking against metallic (Au, Ag, Ti) and transparent conducting oxide (ITO, FTO) thin films demonstrates excellent agreement with literature values, accurately capturing both the magnitude and sign of the Seebeck coefficient across substrates with varying thermal conductivities. The metallic films exhibit small, positive Seebeck coefficients consistent with complex electronic structures near the Fermi level, while the transparent oxides show small negative values characteristic of degenerately doped n‑type semiconductors. This robust, high‑resolution platform provides a practical tool for rapid laboratory‑scale screening and optimization of thin‑film thermoelectric materials.
Source: Materials Today Communications
Institutions: Texas A&M University at Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa University
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,830
OpenAlex ID: W7162665801