Transparent ITO-Mn:ITO Thin-Film Thermocouples

Transparent thin-film thermocouples have been fabricated with indium tin oxide (ITO) and manganese doped indium tin oxide (Mn:ITO) as the positive and negative legs, respectively. Optical transparency of the thermocouples was above 85% in the visible region of the spectrum. Presence of Mn has been found to enhance the thermoelectric response, without significantly increasing the resistivity. Seebeck voltages of ~ 20 mV and ~ 31 mV have been obtained at 625 K, respectively, for the thermocouples with Mn:ITO legs having 1.6 at.% and 4.3 at.% Mn. The response has been found to be reproducible with an error of ±2%. © 2009, IEEE. All rights reserved.