Thermoelectric properties and electrode bonding performance for metal silicides

Thermoelectric properties of metal silicides and their electrode bonding performance have been examined. Metal silicides such as chromium silicide, magnesium silicide and so on are environmentally friendly and abundant. These characters are very much important for thermoelectric power generation application. The thermoelectric properties of these materials made by the hot-press sintering method followed with spark plasma sintering method make them promising candidates for intermediate and high temperature thermoelectric applications, in particular, such as thermoelectric power generation topping co-generation system. The temperature dependence of thermoelectric performance such as the thermopower, electrical resistivity, power factor, thermal conductivity, carrier concentration, Hall mobility for Mn- and Ag- doped Chromium Silicide was characterized between room temperature and 1000 K. The shift of the peak performance of the power factor for the temperature range was observed with the dopant concentration. The electrode formation with magnesium silicide element was carried out using diffusion bonding method to Ta/Al/Mg/sub 2/Si system. The bonding characteristics were discussed from the viewpoint of the electrical performance and inspection of the diffusion behavior of the electrode and inserted metal at the junction layer.