Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano SystemsAmorphous metallic glass nanowires have potential applications in efficient thermoelectric energy conversion. The electric resistance and thermal conductance of single metallic glass nanowires are investigated at the Am Fraunhofer Project Center “NEMS/MEMS Devices and Manufacturing Technologies at Tohoku University” in Sendai, Japan. Therefore micro devices are used to investigate the size effect of amorphous metals.
So called metallic glasses are amorphous alloys with metallic characteristics. Such materials are highly promising for many applications based on the Seebeck (thermoelectric) effect because of its inherent properties. In addition, nanostructure of materials could significantly improve the thermoelectric characteristics due to the dominance of surface effects in nanostructures. Here, we further optimize device design, fabrication processes and improve the measurement method for the physical properties investigation of various amorphous metallic glass nanowires.