In this chapter, we have explored the potential of oxide semiconductors for thermoelectric power generation. Various oxides (Cu2InO4, CuAlO2, and Zn2GeO4) were grown on Si substrate by thermal evaporation method using tube furnace. After the growth, a representative sample of each oxide was cut into pieces and was annealed at various temperatures from 600 to 800°C in oxygen environment for 1 h using a programmable furnace. The structure of all annealed sample was verified by performing X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) measurements. XRD data suggested that all oxide materials show crystalline behavior at annealing temperature 800°C. XRD results further confirmed that crystal structure of investigated samples improved significantly with annealing because the intensity of oxygen-sensitive (0 0 6) plane was found to be increased with annealing temperature. To investigate the thermoelectric properties of annealed samples, Seebeck effect and Hall effect measurements were performed in the temperature range 25–100°C. It was found that the value of Seebeck coefficient and power factor increased as the annealing temperature increases. Zn2GeO4 was found to be a potential thermoelectric material because it has the highest value of Seebeck coefficient and power factor. This highest value is related to the presence of secondary phases in this oxide.
Part of the book: Metastable, Spintronics Materials and Mechanics of Deformable Bodies
Equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) simulation has been used to investigate structural behaviors (order-disorder structures) of three-dimensional (3D) strongly coupled dusty plasmas (SCDPs). The Yukawa (screened coulomb) potential and periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) have been used in the SCDPs algorithm. Two factors have been used to analyze the structural behavior of SCDP which are radial distribution function (RDF), and lattice correlation (LC). The results for these factors have been calculated in a canonical (NVT) ensemble at external electric field strength (E* = 0.03) for different plasma conditions of Coulomb coupling (Γ) and Debye screening parameters (κ) at the number of particles (N = 500). Their results have shown that the 3D SCDP structure moves from a disordered to an ordered state with increasing Γ, and the long-range order moves to high Γ with an increase of κ. In comparison to earlier numerical, experimental, and theoretical data, the obtained results have been found to be more acceptable.
Part of the book: Advancements in Fine Particle Plasmas