Abstract: Antimony and tellurium were deposited alternatively on the substrates by ion beam sputtering with 11 periodic layers of Sb/Te deposited. The films were then annealed at the vacuum chamber. The properties of the thin films were tested by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Hall measurement and Seebeck coefficient measurement systems. XRD results indicate that the major diffraction peaks of the film match those of Sb2Te3. The film growth is apparently at the ［101］/［012］ orientation and many Te peaks are observed. Hall measurement reveals that all the samples are p-type and the resistivities are low. The electric conductivity of the films approaches that of the bulk metal and the carrier concentration is of 1023 cm-3. Seebeck coefficient measurement shows that the samples have nice thermoelectrical properties and the seebeck coefficients are in the range of 7.8—62 μV/K. Among all, the samples annealed at 200 ℃ for 6 h have the highest seebeck coefficient of about 62 μV/K and the lowest resistivity.

Keywords: 
• ion beam sputtering /
• Sb2Te3 thin films /
• thermoelectric material /
• heat treatment