Thin-film metallic glass: an effective diffusion barrier for Se-doped AgSbTe thermoelectric modules.

The thermal stability of joints in thermoelectric (TE) modules, which are degraded during interdiffusion between the TE material and the contacting metal, needs to be addressed in order to utilize TE technology for competitive, sustainable energy applications. Herein, we deposit a 200 nm-thick Zr-based thin-film metallic glass (TFMG), which acts as an effective diffusion barrier layer with low electrical contact resistivity, on a high-zT Se-doped AgSbTe substrate. The reaction couples structured with TFMG/TE are annealed at 673 K for 8-360 hours and analyzed by electron microscopy.