Thermoelectric properties of bismuth nanowires in a quartz template

Abstract

Bismuth nanowires with lengths of over 1 mm length and diameters of the order of nanometers have been fabricated by high-pressure injection into a quartz template. The temperature dependences of the Seebeck coefficient and resistivity were simultaneously measured over the temperature range of 77–300 K. The Seebeck coefficient and resistivity at 300 K were estimated to be approximately −57 μV/K and 1.31 μΩ m, respectively. We also estimated the mobilities of electrons and holes to determine their temperature dependences. We found that the temperature dependence of the resistivity can be accounted for by the reduction in the mobility.