Enhanced Low Temperature Thermoelectric Properties by Nano-Inclusion of 2D MoS2 with Fe:ZnO Thin Films.

Innovative material configurations obtained by incorporating two-dimensional (2D) layers of MoS₂ (a two-dimensional material) with Fe doped ZnO (Fe:ZnO) thin films are found to exhibit high thermoelectric properties at lower temperature. The low dimensionality of material (MoS₂) is expected to enhance the thermoelectric power factor because of the strong confinement of charge carriers. MoS₂ layers have been incorporated in the Fe:ZnO thin film by depositing MoS₂ layers over Fe:ZnO thin film and by fabricating the multilayered structure of MoS₂ layers with Fe:ZnO. The fabricated structures were characterized for their structural, optical and morphological properties using the available characterization tools. The multilayer configuration of the MoS₂ and Fe:ZnO (FZnMFZn) sample was found to exhibit higher values of power factor of 1.06 × 10⁻³ W/mK² and figure of merit (ZT) of 3.11 × 10⁻² at a very low operating temperature of 300 K. The obtained results highlight the importance of charge confinement in improving the thermoelectric properties of the multilayered structure (FZnMFZn thin film sample) indicating that it is a promising candidate for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]