Micro-fabrication of Bi₂Te₃ by using micro-jet

K. Miyazaki, T. Iida, H. Tsukamoto

Department of BiologicalFunctions and Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 2-4 Hibikino,Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu 808-0196, Japan

We developed amicro-fabrication method for bismuth telluride to make a small structure.Bismuth telluride powder was spread on a carbon sheet. The spread thin layer ofbismuth telluride was fixed by micro-jet printing a binder (butadienehomopolymer). The dimensions of the beam are; the width 1000mm, the length12mm, and the thickness 750 mm. The samples fixed by the binder weresintered at 400, 450, and 480 ^oC for 4 hours. We also sintered thesamples at 480 ^oC for 2, 3, and 4 hours. The thermoelectricproperties of the samples, such as the Seebeck coefficients, the electricconductivity, and the thermal conductivity, were measured at a room temperatureto optimize the parameters for sintering. The Seebeck coefficient of the devicesintered at 480 ^oC for 4 hours was the highest (126mV/K) in the experiments. Both the electricconductivity and the thermal conductivity of the devices sintered at 480 ^oCfor 4 hours were also highest, and the figure of merit at room temperature was4.1*10^-4 K^-1.