Antimonide cobalt thin films were deposited on BK7 glass substrates at various substrate temperatures
by ion beam sputtering deposition with a fan-shape target. The influence of deposition temperature on
the microstructure and thermoelectric properties of antimonide cobalt thin films were systematically
investigated. It is found that the Seebeck coefficient of the thin film increases at first and then decreases
with the increasing deposition temperature. The Seebeck coefficient of the sample deposited at 250 C
has maximum value and increases stably when the measuring temperature increased from roomtemperature
to 600 K. The electrical conductivity of the thin film increases significantly to 5.6 104
S cm1 when the deposition temperature was 450 C and then decreases greatly when the temperature
increased to 500 C and 550 C. The behavior of electrical conductivity of the sample deposited at 250 C
changes from metallic to semiconducting after the measuring temperature exceeded 540 K. The power
factor of antimonide cobalt thin film deposited at 250 C has a maximum value of 0.93 104Wm1 K2
at room-temperature and then increases to 3.5 104Wm1 K2 when the measuring temperature was
540 K.