Thin Film Thermoelectric Devices

Thin film thermoelectric (TE) technology offers the potential for low cost, low weight, small volume and high efficiency heating and cooling systems for many applications. More importantly, the recent research has indicated the possibility of drastically improving TE performance (ZT) of TE materials by using superlattice engineering, which can only be realized through the thin film TE technology. However, the range of applications over which the thin film based technology is viable and the science and technology needed to prepare such devices requires further development. This SBIR Phase I program is aimed at developing high-efficiency TE devices based innovative TE thin films, which would have ZT>>1 and can be processed at low cost. Phase I will establish the proof-of-the-concept. Phase II will seek optimization of the device and materials design, process and modeling. Phase III will commercialize the technology.