Two-Step Molecular Beam Epitaxy Growth of Bismuth Telluride Nanoplate Thin Film with Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties

Bi2Te3 thin film composed of single-crystal nanoplates was fabricated on Si substrate by a modified two-step molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method. The possible growth mechanism was suggested based on the scanning electron microscopy observations. Its thermoelectric properties were obtained at room-temperature with electrical conductivity (313.07 S·cm−1) and Seebeck coefficient (−163.44 μV·K−1) respectively enhanced by 74.80% and 71.70% than the reference sample prepared by ordinary MBE method.