Synthetic thermoelectric materials comprising phononic crystals
AssigneeSandia Corporation
InventorsIhab F. El-Kady, Roy H. Olsson, Patrick Hopkins, Charles Reinke, Bongsang Kim
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Abstract
Synthetic thermoelectric materials comprising phononic crystals can simultaneously have a large Seebeck coefficient, high electrical conductivity, and low thermal conductivity. Such synthetic thermoelectric materials can enable improved thermoelectric devices, such as thermoelectric generators and coolers, with improved performance. Such synthetic thermoelectric materials and devices can be fabricated using techniques that are compatible with standard microelectronics.
Claims20
A synthetic thermoelectric material, comprising a phononic crystal comprising a periodic array of scattering centers embedded in a host matrix, wherein the scattering center material has a sufficiently different acoustic impedance from the host matrix material to create a phononic bandgap that reduces thermal conductivity, and wherein the host matrix material comprises a thermoelectric material.
A thermoelectric device, comprising:
- a first synthetic thermoelectric material layer comprising a phononic crystal comprising a two-dimensional periodic array of scattering centers embedded in a host matrix comprising a n-type semiconductor thermoelectric material, wherein the scattering center material has a different acoustic impedance than the host matrix material;
- and
- a second synthetic thermoelectric material layer comprising a phononic crystal comprising a two-dimensional periodic array of scattering centers embedded in a host matrix comprising a p-type semiconductor thermoelectric material, wherein the scattering center material has a different acoustic impedance than the host matrix material;
- and
- wherein the first and second synthetic thermoelectric material layers are electrically connected at a hot side to provide a first pair of synthetic thermoelectric material layers, and the opposite cold sides of the first pair are connected via a thermoelectric power circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.