Abstract
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion is appealing for portable millimeter- scale generators because of its simplicity, but it relies on a high temperatures. The performance and reliability of the high-temperature components, a microcombustor and a photonic crystal emitter, has proven challenging because they are subjected to 1000-1200°C and stresses arising from thermal expansion mismatches. In this paper, we adopt the industrial process of diffusion brazing to fabricate an integrated microcombustor and photonic crystal by bonding stacked metal layers. Diffusion brazing is simpler and faster than previous approaches of silicon MEMS and welded metal, and the end result is more robust.
Highlights
We report a simple and stable method for fabricating an integrated microcombustor and photonic crystal (hot side assembly) by diffusion brazing
Designing a stable TPV hot side has been challenging because of the high temperatures and the thermo-mechanical stresses arising from thermal expansion mismatch between the microcombustor and photonic crystal
The increase in remelt temperature enables us to use the same braze alloy for multiple brazing steps, to avoid exposing the photonic crystal to a higher temperature than absolutely required, and to perform the brazing in a low-cost furnace which was limited to 1200◦C even through the target operating temperature is 1000–1200◦C
Summary
We report a simple and stable method for fabricating an integrated microcombustor and photonic crystal (hot side assembly) by diffusion brazing. Designing a stable TPV hot side has been challenging because of the high temperatures and the thermo-mechanical stresses arising from thermal expansion mismatch between the microcombustor and photonic crystal.
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