Thermoelectric characterization of Si thin films in silicon-on-insulator wafers

Heat dissipation becomes an important issue for highly compacted integrated circuit chips because of device performance and reliability concerns. Thermoelectric cooling has been considered as one of the possible solutions for cooling high density, locally heated integrated circuits. It excels in scalability and reliability. In this study, the thermoelectric behavior of silicon thin films in silicon-on-insulator wafers has been investigated. We have designed a testing structure to measure Seebeck coefficient which is one of the most important thermoelectric parameters. In addition, a testing structure with platinum temperature sensors was built to measure Peltier cooling effects for the powered Si channels. We found that the implanted dopant concentration and postimplantation annealing play important roles on thermoelectric properties of the Si thin films. Also, an asymmetrical thermal behavior due to Peltier effect was observed for the implanted Si thin films, especially for samples annealed at lower temperatures. The thermoelectric power of the Si thin films could be improved by appropriate ion implantation and annealing processes. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)05218-4].