在高操作溫度下，熱電材料和金屬接觸之間因產生相互擴散而使熱電模組中接合點的熱穩定性衰退，故此問題需要加以解決，以便將熱電技術應用於永續能源領域。在本研究中，我們利用金屬玻璃鍍層（TFMG）的無晶界結構來延緩熱電材料在400℃高溫時效環境下與金屬接觸間的擴散。我們首先研究厚度為260 nm的金屬玻璃鍍層在室溫下之四點彎曲疲勞和奈米壓痕實驗中的變形行為。在疲勞試驗中，我們發現金屬玻璃鍍層遭受約4000％剪切應變並呈現如橡膠般的變形行為，此外，在奈米壓痕延伸穿過鍍層進入基材的實驗觀察到鍍層厚度均勻減少高達61.5％，並且沒有剪切帶或裂縫產生，在疲勞及奈米壓痕兩種實驗下，我們發現在嚴重的剪切變形區金屬玻璃鍍層及塊材基材發生擴散接合。
接著，我們在Se-doped AgSbTe2及PbTe-基 (包含p型 PbTe及n型I-doped PbTe)熱電基材上分別沉積上厚度為200奈米的鋯基及鈦基金屬玻璃鍍層作為擴散阻障層，此外，也將相同厚度的傳統的金屬鎳及鈦鍍層也一同加入比較，經量測後兩種金屬玻璃鍍層與熱電基材皆表現出良好的接觸電阻率 (小於10-8 Ω∙m^2)。對於Se-doped AgSbTe2的熱電模組，我們將具有金屬玻璃鍍層/熱電材料/純鎳鍍層結構的反應偶在400°C下退火8到360小時，並用穿透式電子顯微鏡分析。其結果顯示在金屬玻璃薄膜及熱電材料界面並無發現任何介金屬化合物，僅有硒原子緩慢擴散至金屬玻璃能，反之，鎳與熱電基材嚴重反應，並生成NiSbxTe2-x介金屬化合物。對於PbTe基熱電模組，我們對具有銅/金屬玻璃鍍層/熱電材料/純鈦/銅結構的反應偶在400°C下退火8到96小時後進行研究。從穿透式電子顯微鏡分析結果中觀察到鈦基金屬玻璃鍍層能成功延緩來自PbTe 及I-doped PbTe 基材的擴散，然而，純鈦鍍層在高溫下與基材劇烈反應形成TixTe1-x介金屬化合物導致鉛的析出，因此鈦/熱電材料間的高接觸電阻是歸因於鈦與PbTe間激烈反應進而導致在其界面生成介金屬化合物和鉛析出而產生孔洞。

At high operation temperature, the thermal stability of joints in thermoelectric (TE) modules, which are degraded during interdiffusion between the TE material and the contacting metal, needs to be addressed in order to utilize TE technology for competitive, sustainable energy applications. In this work, we take advantage of grain boundary-free structure of thin film metallic glasses (TFMGs) to retard the diffusion between TE materials and metal contact upon thermal aging at 400°C. The room-temperature deformation behaviors of 260 nm-thick TFMGs on bulk metallic glass (BMG) in four-point-bend fatigue and nanoindentation experiments were investigated. During the fatigue tests, TFMGs undergo rubber-like deformation with a large shear strain, estimated to be ∼ 4000%. Additionally, thickness reductions of up to 61.5%, with no shear-banding or cracking, are observed during nanoindentation extending through the film and into the BMG substrate. In both cases, TFMG/BMG samples exhibit film/substrate diffusion bonding at severely shear-deformed regions during deformation.
Then, the 200 nm-thick Zr-based and Ti-based TFMGs were deposited as diffusion barrier layers on Se-doped AgSbTe2 and PbTe-based (including p-type PbTe and n-type I-doped PbTe) TE substrates, respectively. Conventional metals, Ni and Ti, with the identical thickness are also prepared as comparisons. Both TFMGs exhibit good electrical contact resistivity with TE materials (<10-8 Ω∙m^2). For Se-doped AgSbTe2 module, the reaction couples structured with TFMG/TE/Ni are annealed at 400°C for 8–360 hours and analyzed by electron microscopy. No observable IMCs (intermetallic compounds) are formed at the TFMG/TE interface, suggesting the effective inhibition of atomic diffusion. On the contrary, Ni layer severely reacts with the TE substrate, and forms NiSbxTe2-x IMCs. For PbTe-based TE modules, the reaction couples structured with Cu/TFMG/TE/Ti/Cu annealed at 400°C for 8–96 hours are investigated. Ti-based TFMG layers successfully retard the atomic diffusion from both of PbTe and I-doped PbTe TE substrates. Nevertheless, pure Ti layer reacted significantly with substrate at high temperature and formed TixTe1-x IMCs, resulting in the precipitation of Pb. Hence, the high electrical contact resistivity of Ti/TE is measured which can be ascribed to the vigorous reaction of Ti with PbTe, leading to the formation of IMCs and precipitation of Pb at Ti/PbTe interface as well as the void.

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