Method and apparatus for measuring thermal and electrical properties of thermoelectric materials
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorUttam Shyamalindu Ghoshal
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for measuring and characterizing microscopic thermoelectric material samples using scanning microscopes. The method relies on concurrent thermal and electrical measurements using scanning thermal probes, and extends the applicability of scanning thermal microscopes (SThMs) to the characterization of thermoelectric materials. The probe makes use of two thermocouples to measure voltages at the tip and base of a cone tip of the probe. From these voltages, and from a voltage measured across the sample material, the Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity and resistance of the sample material can be accurately determined.
Claims34
A method of measuring thermoelectric characteristics of a material, comprising:
- creating a temperature difference across the material;
- measuring, with a probe, a voltage across the material;
- measuring a difference in temperature between a tip of the probe and a base of the probe;
- and
- calculating at least one thermoelectric characteristic based on the measured temperature difference and the measured voltage across the material.
A computer program product in a computer readable medium for measuring thermoelectric characteristics of a material, comprising:
- first instructions for creating a temperature difference across the material;
- second instructions for measuring, with a probe, a voltage across the material;
- third instructions for measuring a difference in temperature between a tip of the probe and a base of the probe;
- and
- fourth instructions for calculating at least one thermoelectric characteristic based on the measured temperature difference and the measured voltage across the material.
An apparatus for measuring thermoelectric characteristics of a material, comprising:
- a means for creating a temperature difference across the material;
- and
- a probe for measuring a voltage across the material and for measuring a difference in temperature between a tip of the probe and a base of the probe, wherein at least one thermoelectric characteristic is determined based on the measured temperature difference and the measured voltage across the material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.