Features for the Design of A Specialized Information-measuring System for the Study of Thermoelectric Properties of Semiconductors

Methods for studying thermoelectric parameters of semiconductors that are optimal for the implementation of software and hardware have been analyzed and selected. It is based on the Harman method and its modifications, adapted for pulse measurements, which are convenient to implement on a modern element base. An important advantage of these methods is the absence of the need for accurate measurements of heat fluxes, which greatly simplifies and reduces the time for conducting experimental research. The required operating ranges for the voltage 10 µV–1 V, for the current 10 µA–300 mA and the element base performance at the processing level of 40–200 million samples per second have been determined. Structural and electrical circuits, as well as software for a specialized computer system for studying thermoelectric parameters of both bulk and thin-film thermoelectric materials, and express analysis of the operational characteristics of finished modules have been developed. It has been shown that the proposed scheme copes well with the task. And the use of FPGA and 32-bit microcontrollers provide sufficient processing speed up to 200 MSPS and the necessary synchronization modes for the implementation of the Harman pulse method even when studying films of nanometer thickness. Experimental studies of both bulk thermoelectric modules based on Bi2Te3 and thin-film thermoelectric material based on PbTe have been carried out. The effectiveness of the developed tools and techniques has been shown, which made it possible to more than halve the time for sample preparation and experiment. Based on the presented models, all the main thermoelectric and operational parameters have been determined, in particular, electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity, thermoelectric figure of merit. As a result of the development of specialized computer tools, it was possible to reduce the labor intensity of the process of measuring the main electrical and operational parameters of semiconductor thermoelectric materials and energy conversion modules based on them, as well as to automate the process of defects identification of thermoelectric modules. The labor intensity of the research process has decreased not only due to the automation of the measurement process, but also due to an optimized technique that allows research on a sample of one configuration, since the manufacture and preparation of samples are the most laboriou

Methods of Computer Tools Development for Measuring and Analysis of Electrical Properties of Semiconductor Films

The method is presented and computer tools of automated measurement of electrical parameters and experimental data processing are developed, taking into account models for describing physical processes that determine the operating characteristics of semiconductor material. The possibility of automated investigation of the quality and ohmicity of contacts is realized, which significantly improves the reliability of the data obtained.Methods and features of software processing of automated research results are considered using the models that allow taking into account the effect of surface, structure and thickness of the sample on the electrical properties of semiconductor films.Experimental studies of a series of n-PbTe thin films are carried out and the efficiency of the developed tools and methods of processing scientific data using the described methods of experimental data analysis is shown. Based on the simulation, the electrical parameters of the surface layers were determined and the effect of the surface and grain boundary mechanisms of charge carrier scattering on the electrical parameters of the films was separated. The surface mobility of the charge carriers is approximately 3 times less than the mobility in the bulk material, which indicates the dominance of the diffuse scattering of charge carriers on the surface of the thin-film samples despite the high reflectance coefficient (0.4). Taking into account the effect of the surface and the boundaries of the grains, it is possible to choose the technological modes and duration of spraying to obtain a semiconductor material with the desired properties.As a result of using the developed tools, it was possible to significantly reduce the complexity of the process of measuring the basic electrical parameters of semiconductor materials, processing the experimental results, to improve the accuracy of the results obtaine