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Power Generator Modules of Segmented Bi2Te3 and ErAs:(InGaAs)1−x (InAlAs) x

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Abstract

The thermoelectric properties of ErAs:InGaAlAs were characterized by variable-temperature measurements of thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient from 300 K to 600 K, which shows that the ZT(\(=\alpha^{2}\sigma T/\kappa\), where \(\alpha, \sigma, \kappa,\) and T are the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and absolute temperature, respectively) of the material is greater than 1 at 600 K. Power generator modules of segmented elements of 300 μm Bi2Te3 and 50 μm thickness ErAs:(InGaAs)1−x (InAlAs) x were fabricated and characterized. The segmented element is 1 mm × 1 mm in area, and each segment can work at different temperature ranges. An output power up to 5.5 W and an open-circuit voltage over 10 V were measured. Theoretical calculations were carried out and the results indicate that the performance of the thermoelectric generator modules can be improved further by improving the thermoelectric properties of the element material, and reducing the electrical and thermal parasitic losses.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. Thierry Caillat at Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the variable temperature measurements of the electrical conductivities of ErAs:(InGaAs)1−x (InAlAs) x samples. We also acknowledge useful discussions with Dr. Mihal Gross. This work is supported by the Office of Naval Research Thermionic Energy Conversion Center MURI, and ONR Contract N00014-05-1-0611.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Gehong Zeng, Je-Hyeong Bahk & John E. Bowers

  2. Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Hong Lu & Arthur C. Gossard

  3. Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Joshua M.O. Zide

  4. Electrical Engineering Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Rajeev Singh, Zhixi Bian & Ali Shakouri

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Suzanne L. Singer & Arun Majumdar

  6. School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Korea

    Woochul Kim

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  1. Gehong Zeng
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  2. Je-Hyeong Bahk
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  3. John E. Bowers
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  4. Hong Lu
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  5. Joshua M.O. Zide
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  6. Arthur C. Gossard
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  7. Rajeev Singh
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  8. Zhixi Bian
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  9. Ali Shakouri
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  10. Suzanne L. Singer
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  11. Woochul Kim
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  12. Arun Majumdar
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Correspondence to Gehong Zeng.

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Zeng, G., Bahk, JH., Bowers, J. et al. Power Generator Modules of Segmented Bi2Te3 and ErAs:(InGaAs)1−x (InAlAs) x . J. Electron. Mater. 37, 1786–1792 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-008-0435-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-008-0435-2

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