The primary material parameter determining power in a thermoelectric is the figure of merit zT. This figure of merit comes from the requirement for thermal impedance matching between the thermoelectric legs and heat exchangers in an optimally designed thermoelectric module. However, in a thermocouple temperature sensor, the geometry is constrained for temperature sensing. If the geometry is constrained so that the length of the thermoelectric elements is greater than a characteristic length, then the material thermal conductivity becomes less relevant. This makes the power factor the determining material metric for power output in such a device designed for temperature sensing.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.