Spatial Resolution of the Seebeck Coefficient Measured on Thermoelectric Thin Films

The scanning Seebeck Micro Probe SMP is a tool for measuring the spatial resolution of the Seebeck coefficient. With this heated probe measurement it is possible to detect inhomogeneities of the electrical parameters and even diffusion of dopants in semiconducting or metallic material that cannot be detected with other methods due to the low concentration of the dopants. So far this method is well established for bulk material as already reported. In this paper we describe measurements performed on thin film thermoelectric samples. With this tool information about the thickness of thin films as well as of different layers can be obtained