Superlattice quantum well material
US5550387A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 29, 1994 |
| Grant date | Aug 27, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 29, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S257/93
Abstract
A thermoelectric element having a very large number of alternating layers of semiconductor material. The alternating layers all have the same crystalline structure. The inventors have demonstrated that materials produced in accordance with this invention provide figures of merit more than six times that of prior art thermoelectric materials. A preferred embodiment is a superlattice of Si, as a barrier material, and SiGe, as a conducting material, both of which have the same cubic structure. Another preferred embodiment is a superlattice of B--C alloys, the layers of which would be different stoichiometric forms of B--C but in all cases the crystalline structure would be alpha 0. In a preferred embodiment the layers are grown under conditions as to cause them to be strained at their operating temperature range in order to improve the thermoelectric properties.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.