Patent ID: 9577174
Date: 2017-02-21
CPC Classifications: H01L

Claim:
1. A process for forming a germanium-free doped nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) thermoelectric material having a high electrical conductivity and a low thermal conductivity, comprising the steps of: (1) providing a deposition mixture comprising H (2) controllably depositing the deposition mixture on a substrate by means of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at a growth rate of about 0.01-0.03 nm/s to form an nc-Si thin film material having a controlled grain size of about 10 nm to about 3 nm and a predetermined thermal conductivity κ, wherein the grain size is controlled by controlling the H (3) controllably doping the nc-Si thin film material by implanting dopant ions into the material to a concentration of about 10 (4) annealing the doped nc-Si thin film material by first subjecting the material to a furnace annealing at a temperature between about 600 and about 800° C. for at least about 2 hours and then subjecting the material to a cycle of rapid thermal annealing at a temperature of about 800 to about 1000° C. for at least 1 minute.