Advanced Transmission Electron Microscopy Characterization of Novel Thermoelectric Materials

Abstract

The report described our research activities focused on the characterization of new epitaxial thermoelectric materials that are comprised of semimetallic, epitaxial ErAs nanoparticles embedded in a semiconducting epitaxial In0.53Ga0.47As (InGaAs) matrix. The composites were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We used advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques to perform a detailed analysis of the shapes and distribution of random ErAs particles and the overall morphology of the composites. We show that the size of the particles is relatively insensitive to most growth parameters, except for the growth temperature and matrix (GaAs or InGaAs). We found that particles tend to order in specific crystallographic planes. We discuss the mechanism leading to the ordering. We also report on the characterization of epitaxial ScN/Zr(W) N superlattices for thermoelectric applications.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA479170

Entities

People

  • John E. Bowers
  • Susanne Stemmer

Organizations

  • University of California Regents

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Composite Materials
  • Contracts
  • Crystal Lattices
  • Electron Microscopy
  • Electrons
  • Epitaxial Growth
  • Materials
  • Microscopy
  • Molecular Beam Epitaxy
  • Molecular Beams
  • Nanoparticles
  • Particle Size
  • Particles
  • Superlattices
  • Thermal Conductivity
  • Transition Temperature
  • Transmission Electron Microscopy

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Microelectronics