Thermocyclic stability of candidate Seebeck coefficient standard reference materials at high temperature

The Seebeck coefficient is the most widely measured property specific to thermoelectric materials. There is currently no consensus on measurement protocols, and researchers employ a variety of techniques to measure the Seebeck coefficient. The implementation of standardized measurement protocols and the use of reliable Seebeck Coefficient Standard Reference Materials (SRMs®) will allow the accurate interlaboratory comparison and validation of materials data, thereby accelerating the development and commercialization of more efficient thermoelectric materials and devices. To enable members of the thermoelectric materials community the means to calibrate Seebeck coefficient measurement equipment, NIST certified SRM® 3451 “Low Temperature Seebeck Coefficient Standard (10 K to 390 K)”. Due to different practical requirements in instrumentation, sample contact methodology, and thermal stability, a complementary SRM® is required for the high temperature regime (300 K to 900 K). The principal requirement of a SRM® for the Seebeck coefficient at high temperature is thermocyclic stability. We therefore characterized the thermocyclic behavior of the Seebeck coefficient for a series of candidate materials: constantan, p-type single crystal SiGe, and p-type polycrystalline SiGe, by measuring the temperature dependence of the Seebeck coefficient as a function of 10 sequential thermal cycles, between 300 K and 900 K. We employed multiple regression analysis to interpolate and analyze the thermocyclic variability in the measurement curves.