Applied Surface Science, Vol.254, No.3, 768-771, 2007
Parallel syntheses and thermoelectric properties of Ce-doped SrTiO3 thin films
Thermoelectric properties of single crystalline CexSr1-xTiO3 films (0 <= x <= 0.5) have been studied by using combinatorial pulsed-laser deposition. Temperature gradient method was used for identifying an optimum growth temperature for SrTiO3 homoepitaxial growth, at which both oxygen stoichiometry and persisting layer-by-layer growth mode could be accomplished. Electrical conductivity (sigma) and Seebeck coefficient (S) were measured at room temperature for the composition-spread films grown at the optimized temperature and found to be considerably higher than those reported for bulk poly-crystalline compounds. Hall measurement revealed that carrier density linearly increased with increasing x, suggesting that a trivalent Ce ions substituted divalent Sr ions to supply electrons. A maximum power factor (S-2 sigma) was obtained for the x = 0.2 film, being 7 and 14 mu W/K-2 cm at 300 and 900 K, respectively. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:SrTiO3;thermoelectric;combinatorial chemistry;conductivity;seebeck effect;thin films;pulsed-laser deposition