To obtain a material and an element for thermoelectric conversion, having high anticorrosiveness and high acid resistance with industrially satisfactory efficiency by improving the acid resistance and corrosion resistance of a theremoelectric conversion element and a P/N-junctioned thermoelectric converting element.
The corrosion resistance and acid resistance are greatly improved by providing a surface coating by forming nitrides on the surface of an Si-based thermoelectric conversion element by making use of the reaction between Si and nitrogen. For example. A nitride film, having a crystal structure of α type Si3N4, can be formed with industrially satisfactory efficiency by thermally processing, for example, a P/N-junctioned thermoelectric transducing element in N2 or NH3, and this nitride film has small thermal conductivity, high electrical resistance, and a coefficient of linear expansion equal to that of the base material and never peels and can be expected to improve the strength of the materials.
SADATOMI NOBUHIRO
SAIGO TSUNEKAZU
