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AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsAli Shakouri, Christopher J. LaBounty, John E. Bowers
Estimating the term…
A multi-stage cooler is formed from monolithically integrated thermionic and thermoelectric coolers, wherein the thermionic and thermoelectric coolers each have a separate electrical connection and a common ground, thereby forming a three terminal device. The thermionic cooler is comprised of a superlattice barrier surrounded by cathode and anode layers grown onto an appropriate substrate, one or more metal contacts with a finite surface area deposited on top of the cathode layer, and one or more mesas of different areas formed by etching around the contacts to the anode layer. The thermoelectric cooler is defined by metal contacts deposited on the anode layer or the substrate itself. A backside metal is deposited on the substrate for connecting to the common ground.
A multi-stage cooler formed from integrated thermionic and thermoelectric coolers, wherein the thermionic and thermoelectric coolers each have separate electrical connections and share a common ground, thereby forming a multi-terminal device.
A method of fabricating a two-stage cooler, comprising:
A multi-stage cooler comprised of monolithically integrated thermionic and thermoelectric coolers fabricated according to the following method:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
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Constructional details: interconnections
Thermoelectric devices comprising a junction of dissimilar materials, i.e. devices exhibiting seebeck
Active solid-state devices, e.g. transistors, solid-state diodes: thermoelectric, e.g. peltier effect cooling
Electric solid-state devices not otherwise provided for
Term ended 6 Mar 2021 (estimated)
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to two-stage, three-terminal thermionic/thermoelectric coolers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers represent corresponding parts throughout:
FIG. 1 illustrates the geometry of a two-stage three terminal thermionic/thermoelectric cooler according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
FIGS. 2A and 2B are graphs illustrating cooling versus thermionic cooler current for three different thermoelectric currents (FIG. 2A), and corresponding linear and quadratic coefficients versus thermoelectric current (FIG. 2B).
In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and which show, by way of illustration, a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Device Structure
FIG. 1 illustrates the geometry of a multi-stage multi-terminal thermionic/thermoelectric cooler device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. A two-stage cooler 10 is formed from monolithically integrated thin film thermionic (TI) and thermoelectric (TE) coolers 12, 14, respectively, wherein each cooler 12, 14 stage has a separate electrical connection, but share a common ground, thereby forming a three-terminal cooler 10. By optimizing the geometry of each cooler 12, 14 stage, improved heat spreading can be achieved, thereby resulting in an increase of the cooling power density. Cooling power densities of hundreds of Watts/cm2 are possible using III-V semiconductor material systems, which would allow these coolers 10 to be integrated with optoelectronic devices.