Toward roll-to-roll ALD of thermoelectric Al-doped ZnO thin films on flexible nanostructured PET membranes

Thin films are an effective way of manufacturing thermoelectric (TE) sensors for biomedical devices and wearable electronics. Excellent conformality and sub-nanometer thickness control of atomic layer deposition (ALD) make it a promising method of preparing TE thin films on flexible polymer and textile substrates suitable for sensor use. Here, Al-doped ZnO films were deposited on flexible perforated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) templates with 50/1 diethylzinc/trimethylaluminum pulsing ratio at a low temperature of 100 °C. Thermoelectric properties of the resulting nanocomposites were measured. The application potential of the present ALD-made TE coatings on flexible PET films for future roll-to-roll fabrication is discussed.