{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T18:46:38Z","timestamp":1775673998212,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,28]],"date-time":"2023-03-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1679961600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"\u201cBrosynano\u201dMICINN-FEDER","award":["PID2019-106820RB-C22"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PID2019-106820RB-C22"]}]},{"name":"\u201cBrosynano\u201dMICINN-FEDER","award":["UIDB\/04650\/2020-2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/04650\/2020-2023"]}]},{"name":"\u201cBrosynano\u201dMICINN-FEDER","award":["20178PZCB5"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20178PZCB5"]}]},{"name":"FCT\/PIDDAC","award":["PID2019-106820RB-C22"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PID2019-106820RB-C22"]}]},{"name":"FCT\/PIDDAC","award":["UIDB\/04650\/2020-2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/04650\/2020-2023"]}]},{"name":"FCT\/PIDDAC","award":["20178PZCB5"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20178PZCB5"]}]},{"name":"PRIN UTFROM","award":["PID2019-106820RB-C22"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PID2019-106820RB-C22"]}]},{"name":"PRIN UTFROM","award":["UIDB\/04650\/2020-2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/04650\/2020-2023"]}]},{"name":"PRIN UTFROM","award":["20178PZCB5"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20178PZCB5"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Coatings"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Nanomaterials can be game-changers in the arena of sustainable energy production because they may enable highly efficient thermoelectric energy conversion and harvesting. For this purpose, doped thin film oxides have been proven to be promising systems for achieving high thermoelectric performances. In this work, the design, realization, and experimental investigation of the thermoelectric properties exhibited by a set of five Al:ZnO thin films with thicknesses of 300 nm and Al doping levels ranging from 2 to 8 at.% are described. Using a multi-technique approach, the main structural and morphological features of the grown thin films are addressed, as well as the electrical and thermoelectrical transport properties. The results show that the samples exhibited a Seebeck coefficient absolute value in the range of 22\u201333 \u03bcV\/K, assuming their maximum doping level was 8 at.%, while the samples\u2019 resistivity was decreased below 2 \u00d7 10\u22123 Ohm\u00b7cm with a doping level of 3 at.%. The findings shine light on the perspectives of the applications of the metal ZnO thin film technology for thermoelectrics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/coatings13040691","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,28]],"date-time":"2023-03-28T06:15:15Z","timestamp":1679984115000},"page":"691","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Thermoelectric and Structural Properties of Sputtered AZO Thin Films with Varying Al Doping Ratios"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Muhammad","family":"Isram","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Informatiche e Matematiche, Scuola di Ingegneria, Universit\u00e0 di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6801-1564","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Riccardo","family":"Magrin Maffei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Informatiche e Matematiche, Scuola di Ingegneria, Universit\u00e0 di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"},{"name":"Istituto Nanoscienze\u2014CNR, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"}]},{"given":"Valeria","family":"Demontis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NEST Laboratory Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy"}]},{"given":"Leonardo","family":"Martini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Nanotechnology Innovation@NEST, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}]},{"given":"Stiven","family":"Forti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Nanotechnology Innovation@NEST, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}]},{"given":"Camilla","family":"Coletti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Nanotechnology Innovation@NEST, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56126 Pisa, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2914-1459","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vittorio","family":"Bellani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Fisica, Universit\u00e0 di Pavia and INFN Sezione di Pavia, Via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1667-7564","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Mescola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Nanoscienze\u2014CNR, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9431-2309","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guido","family":"Paolicelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Nanoscienze\u2014CNR, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"}]},{"given":"Alberto","family":"Rota","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Informatiche e Matematiche, Scuola di Ingegneria, Universit\u00e0 di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"},{"name":"Istituto Nanoscienze\u2014CNR, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2683-4818","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefania","family":"Benedetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Nanoscienze\u2014CNR, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"}]},{"given":"Alessandro di","family":"Bona","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Nanoscienze\u2014CNR, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"}]},{"given":"Joana M.","family":"Ribeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre of Physics of Minho and Porto Universities (CF-UM-UP), University of Minho, Campus de Azur\u00e9m, 4804-533 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5757-0096","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos J.","family":"Tavares","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre of Physics of Minho and Porto Universities (CF-UM-UP), University of Minho, Campus de Azur\u00e9m, 4804-533 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Rossella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Informatiche e Matematiche, Scuola di Ingegneria, Universit\u00e0 di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213\/a, 41125 Modena, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1043","DOI":"10.1002\/adma.200600527","article-title":"New Directions for Low-Dimensional Thermoelectric Materials","volume":"19","author":"Dresselhaus","year":"2007","journal-title":"Adv. Mater."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9260","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.chemrev.8b00627","article-title":"Thermoelectrics of Nanowires","volume":"119","author":"Chen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Chem. Rev."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2104175","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.202104175","article-title":"Electrostatic Control of the Thermoelectric Figure of Merit in Ion-Gated Nanotransistors","volume":"31","author":"Prete","year":"2021","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6299","DOI":"10.1007\/s11665-018-3715-x","article-title":"Suspended InAs Nanowire-Based Devices for Thermal Conductivity Measurement Using the 3\u03c9 Method","volume":"27","author":"Rocci","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Mater. Eng. Perform."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1016\/bs.semsem.2018.02.001","article-title":"Chapter Six\u2014Measurement of the thermoelectric properties of individual nanostructures, Part of volume: Nanowires for Energy Applications, Edited by Sudha Mokkapati, Chennupati Jagadish","volume":"98","author":"Rossella","year":"2018","journal-title":"Semicond. Semimet."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"414","DOI":"10.1038\/nature11439","article-title":"High-performance bulk thermoelectrics with all-scale hierarchical architectures","volume":"489","author":"Biswas","year":"2012","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107782","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nanoen.2022.107700","article-title":"Giant reduction of thermal conductivity in twinning superlattice InAsSb nanowires","volume":"103","author":"Peri","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nano Energy"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"667","DOI":"10.1038\/nmat4308","article-title":"Phonon wave interference and thermal bandgap materials","volume":"14","author":"Maldovan","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nat. Mater"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93708","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4710993","article-title":"Thermal conductivity of bulk and thin-film silicon: A Landauer approach","volume":"111","author":"Jeong","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1904073","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201904073","article-title":"Thermal Conductivity and Phonon Scattering Processes of ALD Grown PbTe\u2013PbSe Thermoelectric Thin Films","volume":"29","author":"DeCoster","year":"2019","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Latronico, G., Singh, S., Mele, P., Darwish, A., Sarkisov, S., Pan, S.W., Kawamura, Y., Sekine, C., Baba, T., and Mori, T. (2021). Synthesis and Characterization of Al-and SnO2-Doped ZnO Thermoelectric Thin Films. Materials, 14.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma14226929"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"236","DOI":"10.1007\/s10854-016-5516-z","article-title":"Structural and thermoelectric properties of Al-doped ZnO thin films grown by chemical and physical methods","volume":"28","author":"Trinh","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Mater Sci. Mater Electron"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"126501","DOI":"10.1088\/0034-4885\/72\/12\/126501","article-title":"Fundamentals of zinc oxide as a semiconductor","volume":"7","author":"Janotti","year":"2009","journal-title":"Rep. Prog. Phys."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"041301","DOI":"10.1063\/1.1992666","article-title":"A comprehensive review of ZnO materials and devices","volume":"98","author":"Ozgur","year":"2005","journal-title":"Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"84320","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4706569","article-title":"Thermal conductivity of ZnO thin film produced by reactive sputtering","volume":"111","author":"Xu","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ellmer, K., Klein, A., and Rech, B. (2007). Transparent Conductive Zinc Oxide: Basics and Applications in Thin Film Solar Cells, Springer Science & Business Media. 29 dic.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-540-73612-7"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"64508","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4790875","article-title":"The role of oxide interlayers in back reflector configurations for amorphous silicon solar cells","volume":"113","author":"Demontis","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1414","DOI":"10.1039\/C8QM00125A","article-title":"Recent progress in Zn-based anodes for advanced lithium ion batteries","volume":"2","author":"Wang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Mater. Chem. Front."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18578","DOI":"10.1039\/C6NR07207K","article-title":"High performance of electrochemical lithium storage batteries: ZnO-based nanomaterials for lithium-ion and lithium\u2013sulfur batteries","volume":"8","author":"Zhang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nanoscale"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"536","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rser.2017.08.020","article-title":"A review of ZnO nanoparticles as solar photocatalysts: Synthesis, mechanisms and applications","volume":"81","author":"Ong","year":"2018","journal-title":"Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1124005","article-title":"Piezoelectric Nanogenerators Based on Zinc Oxide Nanowire Arrays","volume":"312","author":"Wang","year":"2006","journal-title":"SCIENCE"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118860","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jlumin.2022.118860","article-title":"Optical properties of hydrothermally deposited Ni and Co doped nanostructured ZnO thin films as scintillating coatings for beta-particles detection","volume":"247","author":"Chubenko","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Lumin."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"738","DOI":"10.1016\/j.optmat.2018.08.001","article-title":"Nonlinear optical response of bulk ZnO crystals with different content of intrinsic defects","volume":"84","author":"Uklein","year":"2018","journal-title":"Opt. Mater."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17130","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.iecr.9b01561","article-title":"Progress on Transition Metal-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles and Its Application","volume":"58","author":"Singh","year":"2019","journal-title":"Ind. Eng. Chem. Res."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1016\/j.spmi.2012.11.003","article-title":"Effects of Al and Sn dopants on the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films","volume":"54","author":"Pan","year":"2013","journal-title":"Superlattices Microstruct"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4567","DOI":"10.1007\/s11664-021-08979-5","article-title":"Enhanced Low Temperature Thermoelectric Properties by Nano-Inclusion of 2D MoS2 with Fe:ZnO Thin Films","volume":"50","author":"Gupta","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Electron. Mater."},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"755","article-title":"Magnetron Sputtered Al-ZnO Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications","volume":"3","author":"Patel","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Nano- Electron. Phys."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5822","DOI":"10.1007\/s11664-016-4750-8","article-title":"Deposition and Characterization of Al:ZnO Thin Films for Optoelectronic Applications","volume":"45","author":"Pandey","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Electron. Mater."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4769","DOI":"10.1021\/cm101227h","article-title":"Atomic Layer Deposition of Al-doped ZnO Films: Effect of Grain Orientation on Conductivity","volume":"22","author":"Dasgupta","year":"2010","journal-title":"Chem. Mater."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alam, M.W., Ansari, M.Z., Aamir, M., Waheed-Ur-Rehman, M., Parveen, N., and Ansari, S.A. (2022). Preparation and Characterization of Cu and Al Doped ZnO Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications. Crystals, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/cryst12020128"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2202157","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.202202157","article-title":"Towards Low Cost and Sustainable Thin Film Thermoelectric Devices Based on Quaternary Chalcogenides","volume":"32","author":"Isotta","year":"2022","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"146","DOI":"10.1007\/s10971-019-05024-0","article-title":"Comparison of structural and electric properties of ZnO-based n-type thin films with different dopants for thermoelectric applications","volume":"91","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Sol-Gel Sci Technol"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"165304","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4934512","article-title":"Electrical, optical, and electronic properties of Al:ZnO films in a wide doping range","volume":"118","author":"Valenti","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"238","DOI":"10.1016\/S0040-6090(99)00037-1","article-title":"Epitaxial growth of ZnO thin films on LiNbO3 substrates","volume":"347","author":"Matsubara","year":"1999","journal-title":"Thin Solid Film."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1017\/S0885715600011829","article-title":"Standard X-ray diffraction powder patterns from the JCPDS research associateship","volume":"1","author":"McMurdie","year":"1986","journal-title":"Powder Diffr."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"308","DOI":"10.1107\/S0021889882012035","article-title":"Use of the Voigt function in a single-line method for the analysis of X-ray diffraction line broadening","volume":"15","author":"Langford","year":"1982","journal-title":"J. Appl. Cryst."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00482725","article-title":"Determination of crystallite size and lattice distortions through X-ray diffraction line profile analysis, Z","volume":"312","author":"Delhez","year":"1982","journal-title":"Anal. Chem."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1013","DOI":"10.1080\/01418619808221225","article-title":"Defect structure of epitaxial GaN films determined by transmission electron microscopy and triple-axis X-ray diffractometry","volume":"77","author":"Metzger","year":"1998","journal-title":"Philos. Mag. A"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8918","DOI":"10.1063\/1.1571217","article-title":"Microstructure of heteroepitaxial GaN revealed by x-ray diffraction","volume":"93","author":"Chierchia","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1142\/S021886350600313X","article-title":"Microraman and photorefractivity study of hafnium-doped lithium niobate crystals","volume":"15","author":"Galinetto","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Nonlinear Opt. Phys. Mater."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"209","DOI":"10.2217\/nnm.09.100","article-title":"Micro-Raman study of the role of sterilization on carbon nanotubes for biomedical applications","volume":"5","author":"Bellucci","year":"2010","journal-title":"Nanomedicine"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"286","DOI":"10.1002\/jrs.2739","article-title":"Automated detection and characterization of graphene and few-layer graphite via Raman spectroscopy","volume":"42","author":"Caridad","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Raman Spectrosc."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2489","DOI":"10.1002\/jrs.5998","article-title":"Raman response of topologically protected surface states in sub-micrometric Pb0.77Sn0.23Se flakes","volume":"51","author":"Mehdipour","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Raman Spectr."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110318","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpcs.2021.110318","article-title":"A comprehensive study of structure and properties of nanocrystalline zinc peroxide","volume":"160","author":"Bocharov","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Phys. Chem. Solids"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"708","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2010.07.044","article-title":"Highly conductive and transparent laser ablated nanostructured Al: ZnO thin films","volume":"257","author":"Vinodkumar","year":"2010","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1974","DOI":"10.1063\/1.1609251","article-title":"Raman scattering in ZnO thin films doped with Fe, Sb, Al, Ga, and Li","volume":"83","author":"Bundesmann","year":"2003","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"ref_47","first-page":"120","article-title":"Aluminum doped zinc oxide deposited by atomic layer deposition and its applications to micro\/nano devices","volume":"11","author":"Tuoi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"342","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cplett.2007.06.098","article-title":"A simple and green approach for preparation of ZnO2 and ZnO under sunlight irradiation","volume":"443","author":"Sun","year":"2007","journal-title":"Chem. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73508","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4866322","article-title":"Multi-wavelength Raman scattering of nanostructured Al-doped zinc oxide","volume":"115","author":"Russo","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."}],"container-title":["Coatings"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6412\/13\/4\/691\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T19:04:59Z","timestamp":1760123099000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-6412\/13\/4\/691"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,28]]},"references-count":49,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4]]}},"alternative-id":["coatings13040691"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/coatings13040691","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-6412"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2079-6412","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,28]]}}}