This paper 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-/spl mu/m-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
Up to now thermoelectric materials used in commercial energy conversion devices like infrared sensors, Peltier-coolers or thermogenerators do not take advantage of the enormous potentials provided by low-dimensional structures. The scope of this presentation is the experimental verification of the predicted increase of the thermoelectric figure of merit (FOM) ZT in low-dimensional systems above values of bulk materials. Concepts for the realization of devices using low dimensional structures based on the classical thermoelectric materials (V-VI-compounds for temperatures around 300 K and IV-VI-materials for temperatures up to 600 K, silicides for high temperature applications) were made. We will present briefly the preparation and thermoelectric properties of IV-VI and V-VI superlattice (SL) structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy as well as on Si-Ge SL structures grown by magnetron sputter epitaxy. An important part is the theoretical modeling of these new thin film devices. The results were used to determine the bests uited geometrical dimensions and to compare the calculated device performance with the experimental results. Further more, the results will be discussed with respect to the rising industrial interest in high performance thermoelectric thin and thick film devices
Strain-symmetrized superlattice structures based on epitaxially grown Si/Ge multilayers are expected to be promising systems for efficient thermoelectric micro-systems. The paper presents the development of a membrane-type sensor device consisting of Si/Ge superlattice and Si(sub x)Ge(sub 1-x)-alloy legs allowing the study of the thermoelectric behavior at minimized influence of the supporting substrate components. By means of numerical simulation the optimum layout parameters were determined as well as the temperature distribution within the device including the sensitivity to be expected were estimated. Black body radiation measurements of the functional parameters on nearly freestanding thermopile arrays in the sensor regime are presented
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