Thermoelectric device with Si/SiC superlattice N-legs

US6828579B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Hi-Z Technology, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Saied Ghamaty · Village of La Jolla, US
• Norbert B. Elsner · Village of La Jolla, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 12, 2001
• Grant date: Dec 7, 2004
• Expiry date: Dec 12, 2021

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S257/93

Abstract

A superlattice thermoelectric device. The device includes p-legs and n-legs, each leg includes a large number of at least two different very thin alternating layers of elements. The n-legs in the device includes alternating layers of silicon and silicon carbide. In preferred embodiments p-legs include a superlatice of B-C layers, with alternating layers of different stoichiometric forms of B-C. This preferred embodiment is designed to produce 20 Watts with a temperature difference of 300 degrees C. with a module efficiency of about 30 percent. The module is about 1 cm thick with a cross section area of about 7 cm2 and has about 10,000 sets of n and p legs each set of legs being about 55 microns thick and having about 5,000 very thin layers (each layer about 10 nm thick).