ZnO-BASED THIN FILM, THERMOELECTRIC CONVERTER ELEMENT AND INFRARED SENSOR USING THE SAME

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ZnO-based thin film having a high thermoelectric material property, and a thermoelectric converter element and an infrared sensor using the same. SOLUTION: An average crystal grain diameter of the ZnO-based thin film is 200 nm or larger, and variations of the grain diameters are 30 nm or less in terms of a standard variation. Using a thin film formation method, the ZnO-based thin film is formed at a film formation rate of 10 nm/min or less. For the thin film formation method, a sputtering method, a vacuum evaporation method, a CVD method, a laser ablation method, or the like may be used. Using the ZnO-based thin film, a thermo couple of the thermoelectric converter element or of the infrared sensor is fabricated. COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO