High Cooling Density Z-Form Thermoelectric for Electronics Thermal Management

The Army’s Long-Range Precision Fire mission expands the current portfolio of conventional missiles and artillery to advanced munition technologies with extended range capability (> 70km), which requires the projectile to fly with higher velocities and altitudes as well as longer flight times.  At high Mach speeds, projectiles are subjected to high temperatures (up to 150 °C) and heat fluxes which generate waste heat capable of damaging critical electronics. To solve this thermal management issue, Nanohmics Inc., working in collaboration with Dr. Bed Poudel at Penn State University, proposes to design and fabricate a high coefficient of performance-COP thermoelectric cooling device based on Nanohmics’ novel, conformal Z-Form TEC technology capable of preventing mission critical electronics from being destroyed during flight. In combination with high-performance thermoelectric materials developed by Dr. Poudel at Penn State University, these conformal devices are fabricated using in situ, novel material consolidation,  direct bonded metal (e.g. Cu) printed circuit board, and patent-pending conductive hinges that connect MetaTherm TE Modules that can be assembled into custom TE cooler devices capable of maintaining  critical electronics below 50 °C with COP ~2.0. Furthermore, these low-cost, conformal TEC devices could also be used in several cooling applications such as high energy laser and next-generation RADARs. The proposed cost-effective thermoelectric cooling technology is a transformational method that addresses localized and conformal needs in electronics cooling using novel, high-performance thermoelectric coolers (TECs).