Methods and devices for controlling thermal conductivity and thermoelectric power of semiconductor nanowires
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsAkram BOUKAI, Yuri BUNIMOVICH, William A. GODDARD, James R. HEATH, Jamil TAHIR-KHELI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and devices for controlling thermal conductivity and thermoelectric power of semiconductor nanowires are described. The thermal conductivity and the thermoelectric power are controlled substantially independently of the electrical conductivity of the nanowires by controlling dimensions and doping, respectively, of the nanowires. A thermoelectric device comprising p-doped and n-doped semiconductor nanowire thermocouples is also shown, together with a method to fabricate alternately p-doped and n-doped arrays of silicon nanowires.
Claims19
A thermoelectric device, comprising:
- a nanowire array comprising an individual nanowire, wherein the individual nanowire comprises a semiconductor, and wherein the individual nanowire has a diameter up to about 20 nanometers (nm) and a length that is at least about 4 times the diameter of the individual nanowire,
- wherein the individual nanowire is doped p-type or n-type, but not both, and has a doping concentration from about 3×1019 cm−3 to 2×1020 cm−3, and
- wherein the individual nanowire has a thermoelectric efficiency that is at least one hundred times greater than a thermoelectric efficiency of bulk silicon, wherein the thermoelectric efficiency of the individual nanowire is greater than or equal to about 0.31 over a temperature range from about 100 K to 200 K.
A thermoelectric device comprising at least one p-doped nanowire array and at least one n-doped nanowire array, wherein the at least one p-doped nanowire array and the at least one n-doped nanowire array being connected electrically in series and thermally in parallel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.