KR101980194B1 - Thermoelectric material comprising nano-inclusions, thermoelectric module and thermoelectric apparatus comprising same - Google Patents

Abstract

Thermoelectric materials containing nano-inclusions and thermoelectric modules and thermoelectric devices comprising the same are provided.
By inserting the nano-inclusions into the crystal structure of the thermoelectric material to improve the thermoelectric conversion efficiency, the thermoelectric material is usefully used for a general cooling device such as a non-refrigerated refrigerator, an air conditioner, a waste heat generator, a thermoelectric generator for military aerospace, .

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a thermoelectric material containing nano-inclusions, a thermoelectric module including the thermoelectric material and a thermoelectric device including the nano-

Thermoelectric materials containing nano-inclusions and thermoelectric modules and thermoelectric devices comprising the same are provided. More particularly, the present invention provides a nano-inclusive thermoelectric material having improved thermoelectric conversion efficiency by inserting nano-inclusions into a matrix of thermoelectric materials, and a thermoelectric module and a thermoelectric device including the same.

Thermoelectric phenomenon refers to the reversible and direct energy conversion between heat and electricity, and is a phenomenon in which the phonon moves due to the movement of electrons and holes in the material. The Peltier effect applied to the cooling field and the Seebeck effect applied to the power generation field by using the electromotive force generated from the temperature difference between the both ends of the material by using the temperature difference at both ends formed by the externally applied current do.

 The thermoelectric material is a passive cooling system, which is applied to an active cooling system of semiconductor equipment and electronic equipment which is difficult to solve a heating problem, and the demand for cooling applications that can not be solved by conventional refrigerant gas compression systems is expanding. Thermoelectric cooling is an environmentally friendly cooling technology that does not use refrigerant gas that causes environmental problems. By developing thermoelectric cooling material with high efficiency, it is possible to expand application range to general cooling such as refrigerator and air conditioner by improving thermoelectric cooling efficiency . In addition, when a thermoelectric material is applied to a portion where heat is emitted from an automobile engine or an industrial factory, it is possible to generate electricity at a temperature difference between both ends of the material, thereby attracting attention as a renewable energy source.

Embodiments of the present invention provide thermoelectric materials containing nano inclusions having improved thermoelectric conversion efficiency.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a thermoelectric module including the nano-inclusive thermoelectric material.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a thermoelectric device having the thermoelectric module.

A thermoelectric material in which a nano inclusion having an average particle size of about 50 nm or less is inserted into a Bi-Te thermoelectric matrix is provided.

According to one embodiment, the average particle diameter of the nano-inclusions is about 10 to about 30 nm.

According to one embodiment, the density of the nano-inclusions may range from about 2,400 / μm ³ to 24,000 / μm ³ .

According to one embodiment, the average distance between the nano-inclusions may range from about 10 nm to 80 nm.

According to one embodiment, the volume of the nano-inclusions may be in the range of 35 vol% or less based on the total volume of the thermoelectric material.

According to one embodiment, the volume of the nano-inclusions may range from about 1% to 20% by volume based on the total volume of the thermoelectric material.

According to one embodiment, the work function of the nano-inclusions may range from about 3.8 eV to about 5.1 eV.

According to one embodiment, the nano-inclusions may comprise metals such as Te, Sb, Fe, Mo, or combinations thereof.

According to one embodiment, the Bi-Te thermoelectric material may have the following composition:

≪ Formula 1 >

A _x B _y

In the formula, A is at least one element of Bi and Sb, B is at least one element of Te and Se, x has a range of 0 < x? 2, and y has a range of 0 &

According to one embodiment, the nano-inclusions may be interposed between layers of the laminated structure of the Bi-Te-based thin-film thermoelectric material.

According to one embodiment, the thickness of each layer of the laminate structure may range from 4 nm to 50 nm. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thermoelectric device having a first electrode, a second electrode, and a thermoelectric element interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, the thermoelectric device including a thermoelectric material having the nano- Module is provided.

The thermoelectric material according to embodiments of the present invention may exhibit improved thermoelectric conversion efficiency as the Seebeck coefficient increases. The thermoelectric module and the thermoelectric device including the thermoelectric material can be usefully used in general cooling devices such as a non-refrigerated refrigerator and an air conditioner, a thermoelectric generator for military aerospace, a micro cooling system, and the like.

1 is a schematic view showing thermoelectric cooling by the Peltier effect.
Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the thermoelectric generation by the Seebeck effect.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a sample in which a carrier filtering effect according to an embodiment is implemented.
4 shows a thermoelectric module according to one embodiment.
5A is a SEM photograph of the surface of the thermoelectric material containing nano inclusions obtained in Example 1. Fig.
5B is an SEM enlarged photograph of the surface of the thermoelectric material containing nano inclusions obtained in Example 1. Fig.
5C is a SEM sectional photograph of the thermoelectric material obtained in Example 1
Fig. 6A shows the Seebeck coefficient according to the temperature of the thermoelectric material obtained in Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1. Fig.
6B shows the Seebeck coefficient according to the volume of the nano inclusions of the thermoelectric material obtained in Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1. Fig.
7A shows the electric conductivity of the thermoelectric material obtained in Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1 according to the temperature.
Fig. 7B shows the electric conductivity according to the volume of nano inclusions of the thermoelectric material obtained in Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1. Fig.
Fig. 8A shows the power factor according to the temperature of the thermoelectric material obtained in Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1. Fig.
8B shows power factors according to the volume of nano inclusions of the thermoelectric materials obtained in Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1. Fig.
9 shows the Seebeck coefficient according to the carrier density of the thermoelectric material obtained in Examples 1 to 4.

It is possible to improve the thermoelectric conversion efficiency by increasing the Seebeck coefficient of the thermoelectric material by inducing a carrier energy filtering effect, which is one of the broader quantum confinement effects, by inserting nano inclusions at a high density in the Bi-Te thermoelectric matrix .

3 is a schematic view of a thermoelectric matrix having nano-inclusions embedded therein. As shown in FIG. 3, it can be seen that a layered thermoelectric matrix is formed on the substrate, and as shown in FIG. 3B, nano inclusions are evenly distributed in the layer, and nano inclusions are interposed between the layers .

The performance of thermoelectric materials uses the ZT value of Equation 1, commonly referred to as a dimensionless figure of merit.

 &Quot; (1) &quot;

ZT = (S ² σT) / k

Where Z is the figure of merit, S is the Seebeck coefficient, σ is the electrical conductivity, T is the absolute temperature, and κ is the thermal conductivity.

As shown in Equation (1), in order to increase the ZT value of the thermoelectric material, the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical conductivity, that is, the power factor (S ² σ), must be increased and the thermal conductivity reduced. However, the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical conductivity show a trade-off relationship in which one value increases as the value increases as the carrier concentration changes, and the power factor increases.

As nanostructuring technology has been developed, superlattice thin films, nanowires, quantum dots, and the like have become possible to be manufactured. In these materials, the quantum confinement effect increases the Seebeck coefficient, or the PGEC (Phonon Glass Electron Crystal) Thereby lowering the thermal conductivity and realizing a very high thermoelectric performance.

The quantum confinement effect is a concept of increasing the density of state of the carriers in the material and increasing the effective mass so that the electrical conductivity is not changed greatly but the MBE is increased, The concept of the PGEC is a concept of blocking the motion of the phonon responsible for heat transfer and not interfering with the movement of the carrier, thereby reducing only the thermal conductivity.

According to one embodiment, by inserting the nano-inclusions into the thermoelectric matrix, the carrier energy filtering effect, which is one of the broader quantum confinement effects, is caused to increase the thermoelectric conversion efficiency.

The carrier energy filtering effect is achieved by inserting a heterogeneous material in the thermoelectric material to inhibit movement of a carrier having a specific energy near the interface (Carrier Energy Filtering) to reduce effective carrier density in the material, The carrier relaxation time is increased to improve the Seebeck coefficient of the thermoelectric material.

Specifically, by inserting the nano-inclusions into the thermoelectric material, the energy-dependent scattering of the carriers occurs at the interface between the two materials due to the difference in the electrostatic potential between the thermoelectric material and the heterogeneous inclusions, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 &gt; carrier &lt; / RTI &gt; At this time, the Seebeck coefficient is proportional to the energy differential term of the carrier relaxation time at the Fermi energy level, resulting in an increased value. Which is larger than the increase of the Seebeck coefficient as the number of carriers decreases.

As a result, it is possible to increase the power factor of the thermoelectric material and to increase the ZT value, which is the thermoelectric conversion efficiency index, in the region where the reduction of the electric conductivity is relatively small and the improvement of the Seebeck coefficient is relatively large according to the degree of the carrier energy filtering effect.

Since the effect occurs near the interface with the heterogeneous material, the Carrier Energy Filtering effect increases as the amount of the interface increases, and the amount of interface increases as the volume ratio of the insertion inclusions increases and the size decreases. . Therefore, there can be an optimum amount of interface that exhibits the maximum power pattern (electrical conductivity X (Seebeck coefficient) ² ).

Therefore, a thermoelectric material containing nano-inclusions can be formed by alternating deposition of a thermoelectric matrix and a nanoparticle layer, and thus the nanoparticles inserted in the matrix play an important role in carrier energy filtering effect. In the case of the thermoelectric material containing the nano-inclusions, the increase in the Seebeck coefficient is greater than the decrease in the electrical conductivity, so that the resulting power factor can be increased. The improved power factor directly implies improvement of ZT.

According to one embodiment, a Bi-Te thermoelectric material may be used as the thermoelectric matrix to which the nano-inclusions are inserted, and a material having a composition represented by the following formula (1) may be used.

&Lt; Formula 1 >

A _x B _y

In the formula, A is at least one element of Bi and Sb, B is at least one element of Te and Se, x has a range of 0 < x? 2, and y has a range of 0 &

Examples of the thermoelectric material of Formula 1 include thermoelectric materials of Formula 2 below

(2)

(Bi ₂ Sb _2-a ) (Te ₃ Se _3-b )

The a has a range of 0 < a 2 and b has a range of 0 < x 3.

According to one embodiment, the nano-inclusions inserted into the Bi-Te based thermoelectric matrix have a nanoscale size, and particulate matter can be used. Such nano-inclusions may have an average particle size of about 50 nm or less, for example, about 10 nm to about 30 nm. The density of the nano-inclusions may range from about 2,400 / μm ³ to 24,000 / μm ³ , such that the average distance between the nano-inclusions may range from about 10 nm to 80 nm. The area density of the nano-inclusions refers to the number of nano-inclusions existing on a plane, and may have a surface density ranging from about 40 / μm ² to about 500 / μm ² .

The nano-inclusions are present in particulate form in the thermoelectric matrix and may have a volume of less than or equal to about 35 vol.%, For example, from about 1 vol.% To about 20 vol.%, Based on the total volume of the resulting thermoelectric material. . &Lt; / RTI &gt; The average particle diameter, density, average distance, and volume ratio of the nano-inclusions can be measured by a cross-sectional / planar electron microscope (SEM / TEM) method of the thermoelectric material.

As the nano-inclusions, a metal material having a work function within a predetermined range can be used, and as a work function of the nano-inclusions, a range of about 3.8 eV to about 5.1 eV is exemplified. Such a range is a value having a difference between electron affinity of Bi ₂ Te ₃ of about 4.1 to 4.5 eV or electron affinity of Bi ₂ Se ₃ of 3.7 to 4.2 eV and 0.1 to 1.0 eV, Energy-dependent scattering of carriers occurs at the interfaces of two materials due to the difference in the electrostatic potential, and carrier scattering time is increased due to large scattering in carriers having low energy A metal such as Te, Sb, Fe, Mo, Au, Cu, or Ag may be used as the metal satisfying the above-described conditions. These metals may be used alone or in combination Can be used as the nano inclusions.

The nano-inclusions are inserted into the thermoelectric matrix in a particulate form and are formed to have a high density. The size of the nanocomposite particles may be about 10 to about 30 nm, and the average particle size of the nanocomposite particles may be about 100 nm or less, for example, about 10 to about 80 nm. . The density can range from about 2,400 / μm ³ to about 2,4000 pieces / μm ^3, as described above.

As a structure in which the nano-inclusions are inserted into the thermoelectric matrix at a high density, a thermoelectric matrix forms a laminated structure, and the nano-inclusions are interposed between the thermoelectric matrix and the thermoelectric matrix. The thickness of the unit structure composed of the thermoelectric matrix of a single layer and the nano-inclusions of a single layer in the laminated structure may be in the range of about 4 nm to about 50 nm, and the process of forming the laminated structure of the thermoelectric matrix For example, by depositing a predetermined amount of the nano-inclusions on the thermoelectric matrix. That is, when depositing a predetermined amount of the nano-inclusions, the nano-inclusions may be formed in a particulate form. Therefore, it becomes possible to form one layer of the thermoelectric matrix to have a predetermined thickness on the substrate, to form the nano-inclusions in the form of particles on the layer, and then to insert the nano-inclusions between the layers of the laminated structure of the thermoelectric matrix.

The nano-inclusions are formed between the layers of the thermoelectric matrix in a particulate form, and can be formed to have a high density in a range where no film is formed. For example, the average particle-to-particle distance of the nano-inclusions can form a level of about 100 nm, and when a distance of about 4 nm to about 50 nm, which is a lamination structure thickness range, is applied, for example, an average distance between nano- .

When the nano-inclusions are formed as a single layer, the thickness may be in the range of about 0.1 nm to 2 nm, for example, in the range of about 0.1 nm to about 1 nm.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing the thermoelectric material having the nano-inclusions inserted therein will be described.

The thermoelectric matrix material and the nano inclusion material are mixed to conduct a high energy milling for a long time to manufacture a structure in which the nano inclusions are inserted at high density in the thermoelectric matrix. Continuous fracture and mixing are generated by high-energy milling for a long time. Therefore, nano-sized inclusions and nano-sized thermoelectric matrix materials are produced and sintered using a general high-temperature sintering method or a Spark Plasma Sinter method It is possible to manufacture.

In the case of inclusions which are not dissolved in the thermoelectric matrix material, they can be prepared by mixing them at a high temperature melt and quenching them to form nano inclusions. The inclusions whose high capacity is determined in the thermoelectric matrix material can be prepared by mixing the inclusions having a high capacity or more and quenching them to form nano inclusions. As the quenching method, a method using a solvent or a melt spinning method can be used.

The size of the nano-inclusions may be about 10 to about 30 nm. For example, the average particle size of the nano-inclusions may be about 100 nm or less, for example, about 10 to about 80 nm.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a thin film thermoelectric material having the nano-inclusions inserted therein will be described.

A commercially available thermoelectric matrix or a thermoelectric matrix target having the composition of Formula 1 prepared by the above method is formed on a substrate to a predetermined thickness and then a nano inclusion target is formed on the thermoelectric matrix to a predetermined thickness And repeats this to insert the nano inclusions in the thermoelectric matrix.

As the inserting method, a general deposition method can be used. For example, sputtering, atomic layer deposition, physical vapor deposition, or the like can be used.

According to another embodiment, there is provided a thermoelectric device obtained by molding a thermoelectric material having the nano-inclusion inserted therein by a cutting method or the like.

The thermoelectric element may be a p-type thermoelectric element or an n-type thermoelectric element. Such a thermoelectric element means that the thermoelectric material is formed into a predetermined shape, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape.

On the other hand, the thermoelectric element can be a component that can be combined with an electrode, exhibit a cooling effect by applying a current, and can exhibit a power generating effect by a device or a temperature difference.

4 shows an example of a thermoelectric module employing the thermoelectric element. 4, the upper electrode 12 and the lower electrode 22 are patterned and formed on the upper insulating substrate 11 and the lower insulating substrate 21, and the upper electrode 12 and the lower electrode 22 are patterned, The p-type thermoelectric component 15 and the n-type thermoelectric component 16 are in contact with each other. These electrodes 12 and 22 are connected to the outside of the thermoelectric element by lead electrodes 24. [

 As the insulating substrates 11 and 21, gallium arsenide (GaAs), sapphire, silicon, Pyrex, and quartz substrates can be used. The electrodes 12 and 22 may be made of various materials such as aluminum, nickel, gold, and titanium, and their sizes may be variously selected. As a method of patterning these electrodes 12 and 22, a conventionally known patterning method may be used without limitation. For example, a lift-off semiconductor process, a deposition method, a photolithography method, or the like can be used.

As another example of the thermoelectric module, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a thermoelectric module including a first electrode, a second electrode, and a thermoelectric material interposed between the first and second electrodes, For example. The thermoelectric module may further include an insulating substrate on which at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode is disposed as shown in FIG. As such an insulating substrate, the above-described insulating substrate can be used.

In one embodiment of the thermoelectric module, one of the first electrode and the second electrode may be exposed to a heat source as shown in Figures 1 and 2. In one embodiment of the thermoelectric element, one of the first electrode and the second electrode is electrically connected to a power source as shown in Fig. 1, or is connected to the outside of the thermoelectric module, for example, (For example, a battery).

In one embodiment of the thermoelectric module, one of the first electrode and the second electrode may be electrically connected to a power source.

4, the p-type thermoelectric element and the n-type thermoelectric element may be alternately arranged, and at least one of the p-type thermoelectric element and the n-type thermoelectric element One of them may include a thermoelectric material into which the nano-inclusions are inserted.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically by way of examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Examples 1 to 4

Thermoelectric materials with nano inclusions were fabricated by using Multi-Target Pulsed Laser Deposition, which is one of the physical vapor deposition methods, and MgO (100) 10 X 5 X 0.5 mm ³ was used as the substrate , A target of Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ composition for thermoelectric material deposition, and a Te target for nano inclusion deposition. We used the KrF 248nm excimer laser (Excimer Laser) of 2J / cm ^2, a substrate temperature of 125 ^o C, an argon partial pressure (Argon Partial Pressure) was prepared from 200mTorr, plastic (Annealing) is in an Ar atmosphere of 225 ^o C, 2 Time went on.

The thickness of the Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ (BST) was fixed at about 500 nm and the total amount of Te was changed to about 2.5% by volume, 5% by volume, 7.5% by volume and 15% by volume, , 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

The 2.5 volume% sample was alternately deposited 25 times of the BST 20 nm / Te nano inclusion layer. The 5 vol% sample was alternately deposited 50 times of the BST 10 nm / Te nano inclusion layer, the 7.5 vol% sample was alternately deposited 75 times of the BST 6.7 nm / Te nano inclusion layer, the 15 vol% samples were BST A 3.3 nm / Te nano inclusion layer was alternately deposited 150 times.

The Te nanoinclusion layer was prepared by irradiating a Te target with 6 pulses of a KrF 248 nm excimer laser of ² J / cm ^2. As a result, a particle diameter of 10 to 20 nm (average particle diameter of about 15 nm) was obtained Te nano inclusions having a lattice density of about 300 / μm ² were formed. Each Te nano inclusion layer is deposited at a volume ratio corresponding to a film thickness of about 0.5 nm.

5A and 5B show a plane SEM photograph of a thermoelectric material (Example 1) containing Te at a surface density of about 300 pores / μm ² , each having a density of about 2,400 / μm ³ to about 14,000 Lt; ³ &gt; / mu m &lt; ^{3 &} gt ;, and the distance between the average particles can be measured from about 20 nm to about 40 nm. 5C shows a cross section of the thermoelectric material obtained in Example 3. It can be seen that a Te nano inclusion layer is formed on the BST layer and the thickness of the unit structure including the BST layer and Te nano inclusion is about 540 nm Of the total.

Comparative Example 1

As a comparative example, BST having no Te inserted therein was prepared to have a thickness of 500 nm, and this was regarded as Comparative Example 1.

The structures of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1 are summarized in the following table.

division The volume content of Te Configuration Overall Thickness Comparative Example 1 0% 500 nm Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ (BST) 500 nm Example 1 2.5% (20 nm BST / Te layer) X 25 513 nm Example 2 5% (10 nm BST / Te layer) X 50 525 nm Example 3 7.5% (6.7 nm BST / Te layer) X 75 538 nm Example 4 15% (3.3 nm BST / Te layer) X 150 575 nm

Experimental Example 1

Each of the thermoelectric materials prepared in Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1 was measured for Zebec coefficient and electric conductivity using ULVAC-RIKO ZEM-3 at the same time, and a power factor was calculated based on the measurements. 6b, 7a, 7b, and 8a and 8b.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the Seebeck coefficients of Examples 1 to 4 including Te nano inclusions were increased by about 9% to about 45% (based on 320K data) as compared with Comparative Example 1. FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the Seebeck coefficient of Examples 1 to 4 including Te nano inclusions showed an increased Seebeck coefficient as the content of Te nano inclusions was increased.

As shown in FIG. 7A, the electrical conductivity decreased by about 2% to about 35% (320K data basis). Also, as shown in FIG. 7B, the electric conductivity showed a decreased electric conductivity as the content of Te nano inclusions was increased. They showed a higher increase in the Seebeck coefficient than the decrease in the electrical conductivity, and as a result, the power factor increased from about 13% to about 50% as shown in Fig. 8a. Also, as shown in FIG. 8B, the power factor increased as the content of Te nano inclusions increased

On the other hand, in determining the ZT, a larger power factor was shown because the increase in the Zebeck coefficient entering the square term was greater.

Fig. 9 shows the values of the Seebeck coefficient according to the carrier concentration at room temperature for the thermoelectric materials of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1 including Te nano inclusions. The Hall measurement was performed using a Lakeshore HMS7600 Series. As shown in FIG. 9, the Seebeck coefficient of the thermoelectric materials obtained in Examples 1 to 4 was increased as the Te content was increased. Since the addition of the Te nano inclusions causes a decrease in the carrier concentration, the thermoelectric materials of Examples 1 to 4 have an increased Seebeck coefficient as compared to Comparative Example 1 which is a Te nano inclusion-free thermoelectric material.

The additional increase in the Seebeck coefficient at the reduced carrier concentration can be attributed to the expected carrier energy filtration effect at the energy-dependent electron scattering time with the addition of Te particles.

As described above, the thermoelectric material containing Te nano inclusions can be formed by alternating deposition of a BST layer and a Te particle layer, and Te nanoparticles inserted in the matrix play an important role in carrier energy filtering effect . In the case of the Te nano inclusion-containing thermoelectric material, since the increase in the Seebeck coefficient is larger than the decrease in the electric conductivity, the resulting power factor can be increased. The improved power factor directly implies improvement of ZT.

Claims (13)

Metal nano inclusions having an average particle diameter of 10 to 30 nm are inserted between the layers of the thermoelectric matrix forming the laminated structure,
Wherein the thermoelectric matrix comprises a Bi-Te thermoelectric material having a composition represented by the following Formula 1:
&Lt; Formula 1 >
A _x B _y
In the formula, A is at least one element of Bi and Sb, B is at least one element of Te and Se, x has a range of 0 < x? 2, and y has a range of 0 & The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the work function of the metal nano-inclusions is from 3.8 eV to 5.1 eV. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the nano-inclusions include Te, Sb, Fe, Mo, Au, Ag, Cu or a plurality of them. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the volume of the nano-inclusions is in the range of 35 vol% or less based on the total volume of the thermoelectric material. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the volume of said nano-inclusions is between 1 vol% and 20 vol% based on the total volume of said thermoelectric material. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the average distance between the nano-inclusions is in the range of 10 nm to 80 nm. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the nano-inclusions are contained in the thermoelectric matrix at a density ranging from 2,400 / μm ³ to 24,000 / μm ³ . delete Wherein the metal nano-inclusions having an average particle diameter of 10 to 30 nm are inserted into a thermoelectric matrix containing a Bi-Te thermoelectric material having a composition represented by the following formula (1)
Wherein the nano-inclusions are interposed between respective layers of the laminated structure of the Bi-Te-based thermoelectric material:
&Lt; Formula 1 >
A _x B _y
In the formula, A is at least one element of Bi and Sb, B is at least one element of Te and Se, x has a range of 0 < x? 2, and y has a range of 0 & 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein a thickness of the unit structure including the thermoelectric matrix of the single layer and the nano inclusions of the single layer in the laminated structure is in the range of 4 nm to 50 nm. 10. The method of claim 9,
And the area density of the nano inclusions inserted between the laminated structures has a range of 40 / μm ² to 500 / μm ² . A thermoelectric device comprising the thermoelectric material according to any one of claims 1 to 7 or the thermoelectric thin film material according to any one of claims 9 to 11. A first electrode;
A second electrode; And
And a thermoelectric element interposed between the first electrode and the second electrode.

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