Measurements on the thermoelectric properties of thin layers of two metals in electrical contact. Application for designing new heat-flow sensors

Abstract

The authors describe the operation of new thermopiles in the form of bimetallic printed circuits comprising numerous electrodes electroplated on a continuous foil of lower conductivity. When a temperature gradient is applied in the direction parallel to the plane of lamination, such a device behaves like a thin-film thermoelectric element. In the more general case, where a heat flow tube is passed in the direction normal to the plane of lamination, the amount of EMF generated in the continuous support is determined by all the axial temperature gradients distributed in the double-layer thickness. As an application, the authors present new heat-flow sensors which are directly responsive to the asymmetry of a fringing flow pattern induced by a normal heat flow to be measured.