Three-wire method to characterize the thermoelectric properties of one-dimensional materials

A three-wire method has been proposed to characterize the thermoelectric properties, including thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient of micro/nanoscale one-dimensional materials. The measurement system is composed of three wires, a hot wire and two probing wires, which are attached to the heat sinks and roughly horizontal and parallel to each other. The test sample is suspended on three wires at the central position with three junctions, while one end is adhered to the hot wire and the other end is connected with a probing wire. When a constant direct current is applied to the hot wire, the interaction of Joule heating and heat conduction along the sample will generate different temperature rises at the two junctions of the sample and two probing wires. The thermal conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of the sample can be determined by measuring the resistances of probing wires and the Seebeck potential. The electrical conductivity can also be measured using the same device. In the present three-wire method, the effect of thermal contact resistance (TCR) is greatly reduced. A verification experiment in microscale has been conducted in the range of 200–300 K.