Micro-fabrication of Bi2Te3 by using micro-jet

We developed a micro-fabrication technique for bismuth telluride. Bismuth telluride powder was spread on a carbon sheet. The spread thin layer of bismuth telluride was fixed by micro-jet printing a binder (acetone based butadiene homopolymer). The dimensions of the beam were 0.95 mm width, 12 mm length, and 0.75 mm thickness. The samples fixed by a binder were sintered at 400, 450, and 480°C for 4 hours. We also sintered the samples at 480°C for 2, 3, and 4 hours. The thermoelectric properties of the samples, such as the Seebeck coefficient, the electric resistivity, and the thermal conductivity, were measured at a room temperature to optimize parameters for sintering. The highest figure of merit of fabricated devices at room temperature was 4.1×10^-4 K^-1 in the present study.