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Thermoelectric Quantum Well Device--Hi-Z Technology, Inc., 7606 Miramar Road, Suite 7400, San Diego, CA 92126-4202; 619-695-6660
Dr. Saeid Ghamaty, Principal Investigator
Mr. Norbert Elsner, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-99ER82797
Amount: $100,000
Quantum well devices have the potential to more than double the efficiency of present thermoelectric devices used in remote power supplies and for converting waste heat into electricity. Over the past five years, it has been shown that very large improvements in the figure-of-merit (Z) of thermoelectric (TE) materials appear feasible with multi-layer quantum well (QW) films, but no device has been fabricated with QW materials. QW TE films are very thin multi-layers of B4C/B9C or Si/SiGe ceramics; each layer is approximately 100Å thick, on a substrate (typically Si). To create a QW TE device, the films have to be fabricated with many layers. Although the substrate is a thermal short, it is needed for mechanical support. Therefore, the challenge is to maximize the ratio of film-to-substrate thickness. The Phase I project will fabricate very thick (>10µ) P type B4C/B9C, or N and P type Si/SiGe, on a very thin Si substrate (~5µ), and then connect them in series to make multi-couple power or cooling devices.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The anticipated large increase in thermoelectric performance should lower the cost per watt by half and open up many more commercial opportunities for recovering waste heat from vehicles, furnaces, incinerators, fuel cells, etc.