Investigation of thermoelectric power in indium sesquitelluride(In2Te3) thin films

Polycrystalline and stoichiometric thin films of indium sesquitelluride (In2Te3) belonging to the alpha -phase were prepared on glass substrates by flash evaporation technique at a constant temperature of 473 K. The thermoelectric power of these p-type alpha -In2Te3 thin films was determined as a function of temperature of the hot end of the films and also of film thickness. It was found that the thermoelectric power is nearly independent of temperature and a possible reason for this behavior has been given. The dependence of the thermoelectric power on the reciprocal thickness of the films has also been discussed on the basis of the size effect theories. (C) 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.