Thick Cu-doped Sb₂Te₃ films were deposited on flexible substrate by DC magnetron sputtering from a mosaic Cu–Sb₂Te₃ target. The Cu-doped Sb₂Te₃ films were vacuum annealed to improve their thermoelectric properties. Density functional theory was used to clarify the internal mechanism of the Cu doped into the Sb₂Te₃ system. The results showed that Cu substitution on a Sb site induced electronic states or impurity peaks of Sb₂Te₃ at a valence band maximum. The carrier concentration of the Cu-doped Sb₂Te₃ films increased as the Cu-doped concentration increased. However, the crystallite size and Seebeck coefficient of the Cu-doped Sb₂Te₃ films decreased as the Cu-doped concentration increased. Post-annealing treatment improved the microstructure and thermoelectric properties of the Cu-doped Sb₂Te₃ films. The maximum electrical conductivity and power factor values of 754.20 S/cm at 50 °C and 1.56 10⁻³ W/mK² at 100 °C were obtained in the annealed film with a Cu-doped concentration of 3 at%.

通过直流磁控溅射从镶嵌的 Cu-Sb ₂ Te ₃靶材上沉积厚的 Cu 掺杂的 Sb ₂ Te ₃薄膜。对Cu掺杂的Sb ₂ Te ₃薄膜进行真空退火以提高其热电性能。密度泛函理论被用来阐明Cu掺杂到Sb ₂ Te ₃体系中的内部机制。结果表明，Sb位点上的Cu取代在价带最大值处诱导了Sb ₂ Te _{3 的}电子态或杂质峰。Cu掺杂的Sb ₂ Te ₃的载流子浓度随着铜掺杂浓度的增加，薄膜增加。然而，随着Cu掺杂浓度的增加，Cu掺杂的Sb ₂ Te ₃薄膜的微晶尺寸和塞贝克系数减小。后退火处理改善了Cu掺杂的Sb ₂ Te ₃薄膜的微观结构和热电性能。在Cu掺杂浓度为3at %的退火膜中获得了50℃下754.20 S/cm和100℃下1.56 10 ^-3  W/mK ²的最大电导率和功率因数值。