BRIDGE PROPOSAL - HIGH EFFICIENCY THERMOELECTRIC MATERIAL

A THERMOELECTRIC (TE) COOLING DEVICE WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED TO DEMONSTRATE A COOLING PERFORMANCE CONSISTENT WITH A FIGURE OF MERIT, Z = 3.5 X 10 -3 K DEG -1. THE PROPOSED METHOD WILL BE TO CAPITALIZE ON THE THERMMODYNAMICS RELATED TO THE THOMSON COOLING EFFECT. THE THOMSON EFFECT PRODUCES COOLING IN ADDITION TO THE PELTIER EFFECT BY VIRTUE OF VARIANCE OF THE SEEBECK COEFFICIENT IN AN OPERATING TE PELLET RESULTING FROM THE TEMPERATURE GRADIENT. THIS EFFECT IS REFERRED TO AS AN "INTRINSIC" EFFECT SINCE IT IS BROUGHT ON BY THE NATURAL CONSEQUENCES OF OPERATION. THE THOMSON EFFECT IS USUALLY IGNORED OR OVERLOOKED BY RESEARCHERS BUT IS CAPABLE OF BEING EXPLOITED TO ACHIEVE THIS PROGRAM'S OBJECTIVES. OUR UNIQUE APPROACH WILL BE TO PRODUCE A SIMILAR, ADDITIONAL COOLING EFFECT BY CREATING AN EXTRINSIC VARIANCE IN SEEBECK COEFFICIENT IN THE TE PELLETS. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY USING TWO SEGMENTS OF DIFFERENT SEEBECK COEFFICIENT FOR EACH LEG OF THE COUPLE. THIS DISTRIBUTED PELTIER COUPLE WILL PRODUCE SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED COOLING PERFORMANCE IN EXCESS OF HOMOGENEOUS TE MATERIALS WITH Z > 3.5 X 10 -3 DEG K -1, EVEN THOUGH THE INDIVIDUAL TE MATERIAL SEGMENTS CAN BE AS LOW AS 2.4 X 10 -3 DEG K -1! THEREFORE, THIS APPROACH HAS THE DISTINCT ADVANTAGE OF EXTREMELY HIGH SUCCESS PROBABILITY OVER CONVENTIONAL METHODS.