Preparation of thermoelectric thin film material and numerical simulation of cooler

Abstract

Low dimensional thermoelectric materials and the trend of miniaturization of devices as well as the application in the field of aerospace were discussed. Then the thermoelectric thin film material was fabricated on the polymide( PI) flexible substrate using magnetron sputtering method. The microstructure and property of thin film materials were characterized. The results show that the P-type Bi-Sb-Te and N-type Bi-Te-Se all have a preferential growth of( 015) plane. The numerical simulation was also conducted on the in-plane thin film thermoelectric cooler by ANSYS finite element simulation software. The effect of working current and material physical property parameter on the cooling performance was discussed. It reveals that increasing the thermal resistance of substrate in plane by the decrease of thermal conductivity and thickness benefits the directional thermal flow along the thermoelectric legs. Besides,the hollowed design of substrate and the introduction of high thermal conductive layer in cooling area facilitate the establishment of cooling temperature difference and the uniform cooling in the cooling area. These results provide guidance for the preparation of thin film devices.