Spreading Thermoelectric Coolers

A method of cooling a heat generating device, comprising:

• driving a current through a thermoelectric cooler whose electrical conduction path has metal electrodes and one or more doped semiconductor members, neighboring electrodes on the path being connected by one of the one or more doped semiconductor members;
• wherein the driving causes heat to be absorbed from the device at a first non-null subset of the electrodes and to be dissipated at a second non-null subset of the electrodes, each electrode being in the first or second subset, the first and second subsets being disjoint;
• and
• wherein the current flows over a cross-sectional area of semiconductor that varies monotonically in one or more of the members.

A system, comprising:

• an electronic device configured to dissipate power;
• and
• a thermoelectric cooler with a central region in thermal contact with the electronic device, the cooler comprising a first set of one or more metal electrodes, a second set of one or more metal electrodes, and one or more doped semiconductor members, each member physically joining a corresponding one electrode of the first set to a corresponding one electrode of the second set;
• and
• wherein each member has a cross-sectional area that increases along a path from the one metal electrode of the first set to the one metal electrode of the second set.