C2.3 - Thermal Energy Harvesting - Infinite Power for Ubiquitous Monitoring Sensors

Design and Fabrication of Microarchitected Thermoelectric Generators: Prospects and Challenges

“…[7,75] e) Micropelt created a high-voltage thin-film thermogenerator. [77] A SiNW array's SEM pictures (f ) as etched, g) after heat oxidation to shrink the diameter of the SiNW, and h) after SiO 2 has been removed to confirm that the SiNWs' diameter has decreased. [79] i) EE Si nanowire array in cross-sectional SEM picture.…”

“…According to Li et al [ 76 ] who employed polyimide as the filler material, their μ‐TEGs’ efficiency dramatically increased. It now has a maximum power output of 0.47 W and operates with an experimental setup temperature differential of 70 K. To create TE devices compatible with mass production methods and the most advanced semiconductor industry, a sputtering technique based on integrated Bi 2+ x Te 3− x at the wafer level was presented by Böttner et al [ 77 ] This team created a high‐voltage thin‐film thermogenerator that can deliver 0.14 V K −1 and is currently available for purchase (refer to Figure 1e). A revolutionary technology was also created by Venkatasubramanian, who created a high‐voltage μ‐TEG with an output power of 1.5 mW at a temperature of 10 K (0.025 V K −1 ) and an open circuit voltage of 0.25 V. [ 78 ] This generator was based on a Bi 2 Te 3 –Sb 2 Te 3 superlattice.…”

“…d) High-density silicon nanowires (SiNW) array serves as the foundation for the chip-level vertical μ-TEG structure [7,75]. e) Micropelt created a high-voltage thin-film thermogenerator [77]. A SiNW array's SEM pictures (f ) as etched, g) after heat oxidation to shrink the diameter of the SiNW, and h) after SiO 2 has been removed to confirm that the SiNWs' diameter has decreased [79].…”