Understanding the Anomalous Thermoelectric Behavior of Fe–V–W–Al-Based Thin Films

We investigated the thermoelectric and thermal behavior of Fe-V-W-Al-based thin films prepared using the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique at different oxygen pressures (0.1-1.0 × 10^-2 Pa) and on different substrates (n, p, and undoped Si). Interestingly, at lower oxygen pressure, formation of a bcc-type Heusler structure was observed in deposited samples, whereas at higher oxygen pressure, we have noted the development of an amorphous structure in these samples. Our findings indicate that the moderately oxidized Fe-V-W-Al amorphous thin film deposited on the <i>n</i>-Si substrate possesses a large magnitude of <i>S</i> ∼ -1098 ± 100 μV K^-1 near room temperature, which is almost double the previously reported value for thin films. Additionally, the power factor (PF) indicated an enormously large value of ∼33.9 mW m^-1 K^-2 near 320 K. The thermal conductivity of the amorphous thin film is also found to be 2.75 Wm^-1 K^-1, which is quite lower compared to bulk alloys. As a result, the maximum figure of merit is estimated to be extremely high, i.e., ∼3.9 near 320 K, which is among one of the highest reported values so far. The anomalously large value of Seebeck coefficient and PF has been ascribed to the unusual composite effect of the metallic amorphous oxide phase and insulating substrate possessing a large Seebeck coefficient.