[en] Full text: Intermetallic clathrate compounds have become recent object of study as thermoelectric materials, important because of the environmental preservation and energy conservation issues. The purpose of this work is to grow p-type and n-type single crystals of type VIII clathrate Ba₈Ga_16-xCu_xSn₃₀ (BGS-Cu with x = 1) by a self-flux method using excess Ga and Sn, respectively. The single crystal BGS-Cu were used as targets for deposition of thin films Ba₈Ga_16-xCu_xSn₃₀ thin films have been prepared on silicon (1 0 0) substrates by physical vapour deposition (PVD) techniques. The layer structure in the as-deposited films was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the microstructures analyzes by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, the surface morphology and the roughness of the deposited Ba₈Ga₁₆Ge₃₀ thin films were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Efficient thermoelectric materials must have low electrical resistivity, low thermal conductivity and a large Seebeck coefficient. The thin films were thermoelectrically characterized with electrical resistivity and thermopower measurements as functions of temperature, which showed strong microstructure-dependent behaviors. The relationship between morphologies and transport properties of the thin films was explored. We analyze the combined results of Seebeck coefficients, electrical resistivities and Hall effects for the deposited clathrate thin films in comparison with the single crystals. (author)