A Thermoelectric Generator Using Porous Si Thermal Isolation

Sensors

Emmanouel Hourdakis¹ 

[1] NCSR Demokritos/IMEL, Terma Patriarchou Gregoriou, Aghia Paraskevi, Athens 15310, Greece; E-Mail

关键词: thermoelectric generator;    porous Si;    thermal conductivity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s131013596

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In this paper we report on a thermoelectric generator (TEG) using thermal isolation provided by a thick porous Si layer locally formed on the Si wafer and thermocouples composed of p-doped polycrystalline Si/Al. The “hot” contacts of the thermocouples lie on the porous Si layer, while the “cold” contacts lie on bulk crystalline Si. A housing was also designed and fabricated in order to transfer any external temperature change on the “hot” contacts of the thermocouples, the “cold” contacts being isolated from the “hot” contacts by a thick resist layer. The fabrication of the sensing element (Si die) is fully compatible with batch Si processing. The output power of the thermoelectric generator depends on the porous Si isolation layer thickness, porosity, structure and morphology. For a mesoporous Si layer of 60% porosity and a macroscopic temperature differential of 10 K, an output power of 0.39 μW/cm² was measured for a 50 μm thick porous Si layer.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.