Thermal conductivity measurement of (titanium dioxide)(1-x)(hafnium dioxice)(x)

As the global community tries to move toward a more conservation minded energy policy, the search for new sources of energy has intensified. The prospect of deriving energy from thermoelectric materials has become an area of interest amongst the materials community. Utilizing the thermoelectric effect to its maximum potential requires a minimization of the thermal conductivity due to phonons without reducing the electrical conductivity. Creating a material with highly localized phonon modes is one way of accomplishing this. Randomly distributing heavy hafnium oxide atoms on the titanium oxide lattice may create many localized modes to trap phonons. In this work we explore the opportunities of reducing the thermal conductivity of titanium oxide as a function of its structure and composition. The three omega measurement technique was used to measure the effect in varying levels of impurity concentration on the thermal conductivity of the film. X-ray diffraction measurements were used to examine the crystal structure.