Possibilities for improvement in thermoelectric refrigeration

It is remarkable that the thermoelectric refrigerators, which are being made today, use alloys that were introduced in the late nineteen-fifties. There has certainly been a substantial effort since that time, with the aim of finding improved materials, but it has met with little success. Now, however, there seem to be real prospects for an enhanced performance. There are several promising lines of research: (i) Studies of new compounds and alloys with complex crystal structures. (ii) Techniques for the production of low-dimensional conductors. (iii) Novel methods for the improvement of existing materials. (iv) Better ways of using the present thermoelectric modules. (v) Development of vacuum thermoelements and thermionic refrigerators. These topics will be reviewed and an attempt will be made to forecast the likelihood of success in each field.