Power Output Improvement of Silicon-Germanium Thermoelectric Generators

We present a technology for thermoelectric generators using large area pn-junctions. Thermally generated carriers are separated by the gradient of the built-in potential caused by the pn-junction. The use of these structures for waste heat recovery implies an externally applied temperature gradient...

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Veröffentlicht in:ECS transactions 2006-10, Vol.3 (7), p.1151-1162
Hauptverfasser: Wagner, Martin, Span, Gerhard, Holzer, Stefan, Triebl, Oliver, Grasser, Tibor, Palankovski, Vassil
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:We present a technology for thermoelectric generators using large area pn-junctions. Thermally generated carriers are separated by the gradient of the built-in potential caused by the pn-junction. The use of these structures for waste heat recovery implies an externally applied temperature gradient in-plane with the pn-junction which causes a current of both electrons and holes from the heated to the cooled side, where electrical contacts are mounted. The device behavior is strongly influenced by the magnitude and the spatial distribution of the generation rate as well as the local transport properties. We present the influence of the alloy composition on the material properties and possibilities to increase the power output by modification of the local material composition. Furthermore, the influence of intentionally implanted gold atoms as additional generation centers is assessed. We present simulation results obtained by the device simulator Minimos-NT working in conjunction with the optimization framework Siesta.
ISSN:1938-5862
1938-6737
DOI:10.1149/1.2355909