Journal article

Publication year: 2016

Pages: 5313-5320

Journal: Journal of Electronic Materials

Volume number: 45

Issue number: 10

ISSN: 0361-5235

eISSN: 1543-186X

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-4716-x

Publisher: Electron Devices Society

Abstract: 
Magnesium silicide-based materials are a very promising class of thermoelectric materials with excellent potential for thermoelectric waste heat recovery. For the successful application of magnesium silicide-based thermoelectric generators, the development of long-term stable contacts with low contact resistance is as important as material optimization. We have therefore studied the suitability of Ni as a contact material for magnesium silicide. Co-sintering of magnesium silicide and Ni leads to the formation of a stable reaction layer with low electrical resistance. In this paper we show that the contacts retain their low electrical contact resistance after annealing at temperatures up to 823 K for up to 168 h. By employing scanning electron microscope analysis and time-of-flight (ToF)-secondary ion mass spectrometry, we can further show that elemental diffusion is occurring to a very limited extent. This indicates long-term stability under practical operation conditions for magnesium silicide/nickel contacts.

Harvard Citation style: De Boor, J., Droste, D., Schneider, C., Janek, J. and Mueller, E. (2016) Thermal Stability of Magnesium Silicide/Nickel Contacts, Journal of Electronic Materials, 45(10), pp. 5313-5320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-4716-x

APA Citation style: De Boor, J., Droste, D., Schneider, C., Janek, J., & Mueller, E. (2016). Thermal Stability of Magnesium Silicide/Nickel Contacts. Journal of Electronic Materials. 45(10), 5313-5320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-4716-x