Process Integration of Co-Sputtered Bismuth Telluride/Antimony Telluride Thermoelectric Junctions

Incorporation of bismuth telluride/antimony telluride co-sputtered thermoelectric junctions into MEMS devices requires process developments for patterning and encapsulation as well as characterization of properties such as film stress and contact resistance. Test structures are presented for measuring important thermoelectric properties, resistivity, thermal conductivity, carrier concentration, and Seebeck coefficient. A fabrication process is presented that allows the junctions to be deposited, patterned, encapsulated, and etch released. Measurement of the thermoelectric junctions reveals a room temperature figure of merit, ZT, of 0.43 with a total Seebeck coefficient difference of 150 μV/K, resistivities of 17.4 and 7.6 μΩ-m, and thermal conductivity of 0.34 and 0.30 W/mK for antimony telluride and bismuth telluride, respectively. The junctions have been incorporated into state of the art uncooled thermopile infrared detectors with a peak detectivity of 3 × 10⁹ cm*Hz^1/2/W.