New thermoelectric components using microsystem technologies

Author

Böttner, Harald ; Nurnus, Joachim ; Gavrikov, Alexander ; Kühner, Gerd ; Jägle, Martin ; Künzel, Christa ; Eberhard, Dietmar ; Plescher, Gerd ; Schubert, Axel ; Schlereth, Karl-Heinz

Author_Institution

Fraunhofer Inst. Phys. Messtechnik, Freiburg, Germany

Volume

13

Issue

3

fYear

2004

fDate

6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

414

Lastpage

420

Abstract

This work describes the first thermoelectric devices based on the V-VI-compounds Bi/sub 2/Te/sub 3/ and (Bi,Sb)/sub 2/Te/sub 3/ which can be manufactured by means of regular thin film technology in combination with microsystem technology. Fabrication concept, material deposition for some 10-μm-thick layers and the properties of the deposited thermoelectric materials will be reported. First device properties for Peltier-coolers and thermogenerators will be shown as well as investigations on long term and cycling stability. Data on metal/semiconductor contact resistance were extracted form device data. Device characteristics like response time for a Peltier-cooler and power output for a thermogenerator will be compared to commercial devices.

Keywords

Peltier effect; bismuth compounds; contact resistance; micromechanical devices; semiconductor devices; semiconductor-metal boundaries; tellurium compounds; thermoelectric devices; thin film devices; 10 microns; Bi/sub 2/Te/sub 3/; Peltier-coolers; cycling stability; material deposition; metal-semiconductor contact resistance; microsystem technologies; semiconductor-device design; thermoelectric components; thermoelectric properties; thermogenerators; thin film technology; thin-film morphology; thin-film structure; Bismuth; Contact resistance; Semiconductor materials; Tellurium; Thermal stability; Thermoelectric devices; Thermoelectricity; Thin film devices;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1057-7157

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JMEMS.2004.828740

Filename

1303619