Realizing High Thermoelectric Performance at Ambient Temperature by Ternary Alloying in Polycrystalline Si(1-x-y)Ge(x)Sn(y) Thin Films with Boron Ion Implantation

The interest in thermoelectrics (TE) for an electrical output power by converting any kind of heat has flourished in recent years, but questions about the efficiency at the ambient temperature and safety remain unanswered. With the possibility of integration in the technology of semiconductors based on silicon, highly harvested power density, abundant on earth, nontoxicity, and cost-efficiency, Si(1-x-y)Ge(x)Sn(y) ternary alloy film has been investigated to highlight its efficiency through ion implantation and high-temperature rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. Significant improvement of the ambient-temperature TE performance has been achieved in a boron-implanted Si(0.864)Ge(0.108)Sn(0.028) thin film after a short time RTA process at 1100 °C for 15 seconds, the power factor achieves to 11.3 μWcm(−1) K(−2) at room temperature. The introduction of Sn into Si(1-x)Ge(x) dose not only significantly improve the conductivity of Si(1-x)Ge(x) thermoelectric materials but also achieves a relatively high Seebeck coefficient at room temperature. This work manifests emerging opportunities for modulation Si integration thermoelectrics as wearable devices charger by body temperature.