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Spin-current-driven thermoelectric coating

Nature Materials volume 11, pages 686–689 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Energy harvesting technologies1,2, which generate electricity from environmental energy, have been attracting great interest because of their potential to power ubiquitously deployed sensor networks and mobile electronics. Of these technologies, thermoelectric (TE) conversion is a particularly promising candidate, because it can directly generate electricity from the thermal energy that is available in various places3,4,5,6. Here we show a novel TE concept based on the spin Seebeck effect7,8,9,10,11, called ‘spin-thermoelectric (STE) coating’, which is characterized by a simple film structure, convenient scaling capability, and easy fabrication. The STE coating, with a 60-nm-thick bismuth-substituted yttrium iron garnet (Bi:YIG) film, is applied by means of a highly efficient process on a non-magnetic substrate. Notably, spin-current-driven TE conversion is successfully demonstrated under a temperature gradient perpendicular to such an ultrathin STE-coating layer (amounting to only 0.01% of the total sample thickness). We also show that the STE coating is applicable even on glass surfaces with amorphous structures. Such a versatile implementation of the TE function may pave the way for novel applications making full use of omnipresent heat.

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Figure 1: Concept of the STE coating.
Figure 2: Demonstration of the STE coating.
Figure 3: TE-voltage generation increased by repeated STE coating.
Figure 4: STE coating on glass.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank G. E. W. Bauer, S. Maekawa, H. Adachi, J. P. Heremans and S. Kohmoto for valuable discussions. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research A (21244058) from MEXT, Japan, the global COE for the ‘Materials Integration International Centre of Education and Research’ from MEXT, Japan, and CREST-JST ‘Creation of Nanosystems with Novel Functions through Process Integration’, Japan.

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Author notes

  1. Yasunobu Nakamura

    Present address: Present address: Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smart Energy Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation, Tsukuba 305-8501, Japan

    Akihiro Kirihara, Masahiko Ishida, Yasunobu Nakamura, Takashi Manako & Shinichi Yorozu

  2. Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan

    Ken-ichi Uchida, Yosuke Kajiwara & Eiji Saitoh

  3. CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Sanbancho, Tokyo 102-0075, Japan

    Ken-ichi Uchida, Yosuke Kajiwara & Eiji Saitoh

  4. Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai 319-1195, Japan

    Eiji Saitoh

  5. WPI-Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan

    Eiji Saitoh

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  1. Akihiro Kirihara
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Contributions

A.K., K.U., Y.K. and M.I. performed sample preparation and experiments. All the authors contributed to the discussion and analysis of the research.

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Correspondence to Akihiro Kirihara.

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Kirihara, A., Uchida, Ki., Kajiwara, Y. et al. Spin-current-driven thermoelectric coating. Nature Mater 11, 686–689 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3360

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