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US 2016/0079509 A1Published application
System and Method for Nanowire-Array Transverse Thermoelectrics
AssigneeNorthwestern University
InventorsMatthew Grayson, Mark C. Hersam, Chuanle Zhou, Yang Tang, Tejas Shastry
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Abstract
A transverse thermoelectric includes a first array of hole-conducting nanowires and a second array of electron-conducting nanowires positioned orthogonal to the first array of nanowires. A substrate provides structure to the first array of nanowires and the second array of nanowires.
Claims20
A transverse thermoelectric device, comprising:
- a first array of nanowires;
- a second array of nanowires positioned orthogonal to the first array of nanowires;
- and
- a substrate for providing structure to the first array of nanowires and the second array of nanowires.
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A method for manufacturing a transverse thermoelectric device, comprising:
- fabricating individual nanowires by immersing a substrate in a solution of surfactant-encapsulated nanowires in water;
- through a balance of surface tension and capillary forces, forming a first layer nanowires along the substrate as the nanowires migrate to a liquid-solid-air interface and deposit in an aligned formation due to entropic effects;
- p-type doping the first layer of nanowires with an oxidizer;
- depositing a second layer of nanowires;
- n-type doping the second layer of nanowires with a reducing agent;
- and
- depositing the first layer of nanowires in a cross-grid pattern relative to the second layer of nanowires.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.