In-situ growth of high room temperature thermoelectric performance Ag2Se thin films

In this work, well-crystalline Ag2Se thermoelectric thin film with high power factor at room temperature was successfully fabricated at solid substrate by a facile in-situ growth method via co-evaporation deposition. Microstructure characterizations show that the thin films prepared under proper growth temperature have single alpha-Ag2Se phase and stable chemical valence states, leading to a high electrical conductivity. Additionally, the carrier concentration is optimized after adjusting growth temperature and further contributes to a high Seebeck coefficient. As a result, a maximum power factor of 15.34 mu Wcm(-1)K(-2) is achieved, demonstrating that our in-situ growth method is an effective way to fabricate high performance Ag2Se thermoelectric thin films.