Novel Thermal Diffusion Temperature Engineering Leading to High Thermoelectric Performance in Bi Te -Based Flexible Thin-Films.

Flexible Bi Te -based thermoelectric devices can function as power generators for powering wearable electronics or chip-sensors for internet-of-things. However, the unsatisfied performance of n-type Bi Te flexible thin films significantly limits their wide application. In this study, a novel thermal diffusion method is employed to fabricate n-type Te-embedded Bi Te flexible thin films on flexible polyimide substrates, where Te embeddings can be achieved by tuning the thermal diffusion temperature and correspondingly result in an energy filtering effect at the Bi Te /Te interfaces.