A novel experimental device for seebeck coefficient measurements of bulk materials, thin films, and nanowire composites

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2011

Abstract

An experimental setup has been designed and built for measuring the Seebeck coefficient of bulk thermoelectric materials, thin films, and nanowire composites in the temperature range 200-350 K. The setup utilizes a differential method for measuring the Seebeck coefficient of the sample. The sample holder is a simple clamp design, utilizing a springloaded mounting system to load and hold the sample between two copper blocks, on which the electrical leads, as well as thermocouples, are mounted. The spring-loaded design also offers fast turn-around times, as the samples can be quickly loaded and unloaded. To measure the Seebeck coefficient, a temperature difference is generated across the sample by using four 10 kω resistive heaters mounted in series on one of the copper blocks. The resulting slope of the thermo-emf versus temperature difference plot is used to obtain the Seebeck coefficient at any temperature. Test measurements were carried out on bulk samples of nickel (Ni), bismuth-telluride (Bi2Te3), antimony-telluride (Sb2Te3), as well as thin films and nanowire composites of Ni. © 2011 by ASME.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Journal of Nanotechnology in Engineering and Medicine

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