IMPROVED THERMOELECTRIC MODULE WITH Si/SiC AND B4C/B9C SUPER-LATTICE LEGS

摘要

A super-lattice thermoelectric device. The device is comprised of p-legs and n­legs, each leg being comprised of a large number of very thin alternating layers of two materials with differing electron band gaps. The n-legs in the device are comprised of alternating layers of Si and SiC. The p-legs are comprised of alternating layers of B4C and B9C. In preferred embodiments the layers are about 100 angstroms thick. Thermoelectric modules made according to the present invention are useful for both cooling applications as well as electric power generation. This preferred embodiment is a thermoelectric 10 X 10 egg crate type module about 6 cm X 6cm X 0.76 cm designed to produce 70 Watts with a temperature difference of 300 degrees C with a module efficiency of about 30 percent. The module has 98 active thermoelectric legs, with each leg having more than 3 million super-lattice layers.