Thermoelectric characterization of InAs nanowires

Thermoelectric energy conversion offers a wide field of applications that range from thermoelectric cooling over waste heat recovery of combustion engines to energy harvesting for wearable devices. Thin nanowires are promising candidates for a high thermoelectric figure of merit ZT = iJS2 / λ with electrical conductivity σ, Seebeck coefficient S and thermal conductivity λ. The work of this thesis focuses on the fabrication of thermoelectric test structures and the investigation of thermoelectric properties of thin Indium Arsenide nanowires. The thermal conductivity is measured using a self-heating technique and determined to be reduced by more than a factor of 10 compared to bulk InAs. Gated measurements of σ and S allow to extract the charge carrier concentration and the charge carrier mobility of the nanowires. Furthermore, it is shown that 20 nm thick Indium Arsenide nanowires show an enhanced thermoelectric power factor σS2 compared to thicker nanowires due to their one-dimensional behavior.