Thermal and electrical analysis of SiGe thermoelectric unicouple filled with thermal insulation materials

Li, Jing; Xiang, Qingpei; Ze, Rende; Ma, Mingyang; Wang, Shumiao; Xie, Qian; Xiang, Yang

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.01.100

Cited by 24 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Si 1-x Ge x was used because both bulk and nanostructured Si 1-x Ge x show significantly enhanced Z compared to pure Si due to suppression of the phonon contribution to κ through random alloy and grain boundary scattering 25 . A large amount of TE device work using Si 1-x Ge x exists, particularly targeted at high temperature applications [25][26][27][28][29] . These works generally use alloy compositions with 0.2 ≤ x ≤ 0.5 because κ is near its minimum value through that range 25,30,31 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Si0.97Ge0.03 microelectronic thermoelectric generators with high power and voltage densities

Dhawan

Madusanka

et al. 2020

Nat Commun

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microelectronic thermoelectric generators are one potential solution to energizing energy autonomous electronics, such as internet-of-things sensors, that must carry their own power source. However, thermoelectric generators with the mm 2 footprint area necessary for onchip integration made from high thermoelectric figure-of-merit materials have been unable to produce the voltage and power levels required to run Si electronics using common temperature differences. We present microelectronic thermoelectric generators using Si 0.97 Ge 0.03 , made by standard Si processing, with high voltage and power generation densities that are comparable to or better than generators using high figure-of-merit materials. These Si-based thermoelectric generators have <1 mm 2 areas and can energize off-the-shelf sensor integrated circuits using temperature differences ≤25 K near room temperature. These generators can be directly integrated with Si circuits and scaled up in area to generate voltages and powers competitive with existing thermoelectric technologies, but in what should be a far more cost-effective manner.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Si0.97Ge0.03 microelectronic thermoelectric generators with high power and voltage densities

Dhawan

Madusanka

et al. 2020

Nat Commun

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Unfortunately, the present η max was much lower than that of conventional SiGe modules with a standard π‐type structure where p ‐ and n‐type elements of a rectangular parallelepiped shape are arranged separately. [ 56 ] The large loss of the present module could be a result of lower effective temperature differences, which originate from charge carriers that avoid reaching the highest temperature region during passing the p ‐n junction. In addition, charge carriers, which flow the side far from the next leg, must travel a longer path than those flow inner side to reach at the p ‐n junction, resulting in a larger effective resistance and lower electrical power output.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelectric Module of SiGe Bulk Alloys Forming p‐n Junction at the Hot Side

Fujimoto¹,

Nagase

Ohshima

et al. 2022

Adv Eng Mater

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Thermoelectric power generation is a potential technology for providing green energy. It is expected to be able to convert enormous amounts of waste heat to electrical energy. To realize this technology, further increases in conversion efficiency and durability are essential. In particular, durability is a critical issue, especially for harnessing high‐temperature heat sources. Thus, a thermoelectric module of SiGe is fabricated without electrodes at the hot side, which is the main cause of aging. Electronic conduction between p‐ and n‐type elements is alternatively introduced using a direct connection, forming a p‐n junction. Sufficiently low electrical contact resistances are achieved at the p‐n junction above 300 °C due to the dissipation of the depletion layer. The conversion efficiency is 2.0% with a hot‐side temperature of 700 °C. The power‐generation performance is constant during heat‐run tests conducted at 700 and 500 °C under vacuum and air, respectively, for more than 450 h. The results demonstrate that a stable power‐generation technology using a thermoelectric module at high temperatures is established successfully.

show abstract

“…SiGe is hardly unknown in the thermoelectric arena in bulk or nanowire form [ 8 , 13 ]. It was the material of choice in early versions of NASA radioisotope thermogenerators on board of several space missions and it is still powering Voyager probes decades after their launch [ 32 ]. Different nanostructuring routes [ 8 , 33 ] and low dimension form factors such as nanowires [ 13 , 34 ] are currently being researched for this material.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning from Si to SiGe Nanowires as Thermoelectric Material in Silicon-Based Microgenerators

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The thermoelectric performance of nanostructured low dimensional silicon and silicon-germanium has been functionally compared device-wise. The arrays of nanowires of both materials, grown by a VLS-CVD (Vapor-Liquid-Solid Chemical Vapor Deposition) method, have been monolithically integrated in a silicon micromachined structure in order to exploit the improved thermoelectric properties of nanostructured silicon-based materials. The device architecture helps to translate a vertically occurring temperature gradient into a lateral temperature difference across the nanowires. Such thermocouple is completed with a thin film metal leg in a unileg configuration. The device is operative on its own and can be largely replicated (and interconnected) using standard IC (Integrated Circuits) and MEMS (Micro-ElectroMechanical Systems) technologies. Despite SiGe nanowires devices show a lower Seebeck coefficient and a higher electrical resistance, they exhibit a much better performance leading to larger open circuit voltages and a larger overall power supply. This is possible due to the lower thermal conductance of the nanostructured SiGe ensemble that enables a much larger internal temperature difference for the same external thermal gradient. Indeed, power densities in the μW/cm2 could be obtained for such devices when resting on hot surfaces in the 50–200 °C range under natural convection even without the presence of a heat exchanger.

show abstract

Thermal and electrical analysis of SiGe thermoelectric unicouple filled with thermal insulation materials

Cited by 24 publications

References 18 publications

Si0.97Ge0.03 microelectronic thermoelectric generators with high power and voltage densities

Si0.97Ge0.03 microelectronic thermoelectric generators with high power and voltage densities

Thermoelectric Module of SiGe Bulk Alloys Forming p‐n Junction at the Hot Side

Transitioning from Si to SiGe Nanowires as Thermoelectric Material in Silicon-Based Microgenerators

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About