Effect of Oxygen Pressure on Thermoelectric Properties of p-Type CuAlO₂ Films Fabricated by Pulsed Laser Deposition

We focus on the growth of p-type CuAlO₂ thin films and its thermoelectric properties. Thin films are deposited by pulsed laser deposition technique on single-crystal sapphire substrates varying the oxygen partial pressure. Thin film deposited at oxygen partial pressure of 200 mTorr presents bigger grains (about 10 μm in size) and shows Seebeck coefficient as high as 270 µV/K with a conductivity of about 0.8 S/cm so that its power factor is about 5.7 µW/mK² at 800 K, twice than observed in the film deposited at 60 mTorr of oxygen.