ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses experimental methods for thermoelectric characterization of individual thin films and nanostructures. The intense experimental studies of thermoelectric transport in thin film and nanowires have led to the development of a number of thermoelectric characterization methods designed specifically for thin films and nanowires. For eliminating parasitic heat and charge transport in the substrate during in-plane thermoelectric measurements of thin films and nanostructures, different designs of suspended thermometer devices have been developed. The thermoelectric measurement of the thin-film sample is conducted in a variable temperature cryostat where the sample space is in high vacuum. The chapter reviews a number of methods for characterizing the thermal and thermoelectric properties of thin films, individual nanowires, nanotubes, and graphene. For the in-plane direction of thin films, parasitic heat loss to the substrate makes thermal conductivity measurement complicated. The 3ω method is essentially an electrical resistance thermometry method for thermal conductivity measurement.
