Abstract
In present-day high-performance electronic components, the generated heat loads result in unacceptably high junction temperatures and reduced component lifetimes. Thermoelectric modules can, in principle, enhance heat removal and reduce the temperatures of such electronic devices. However, state-of-the-art bulk thermoelectric modules have a maximum cooling flux qmax of only about 10 W cm−2, while state-of-the art commercial thin-film modules have a qmax <100 W cm−2. Such flux values are insufficient for thermal management of modern high-power devices. Here we show that cooling fluxes of 258 W cm−2 can be achieved in thin-film Bi2Te3-based superlattice thermoelectric modules. These devices utilize a p-type Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 superlattice and n-type δ-doped Bi2Te3−xSex, both of which are grown heteroepitaxially using metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. We anticipate that the demonstration of these high-cooling-flux modules will have far-reaching impacts in diverse applications, such as advanced computer processors, radio-frequency power devices, quantum cascade lasers and DNA micro-arrays.
Highlights
In present-day high-performance electronic components, the generated heat loads result in unacceptably high junction temperatures and reduced component lifetimes
We present thermoelectric module capable of producing a cooling flux of 258 W cm À 2, more than double that of the current state-of-the-art value
The thermoelectric material at the heart of the module consists of p-type 10/50 Å Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 superlattice and n-type d-doped Bi2Te3 À xSex, both of which are grown heteroepitaxially using metalorganic chemical vapour deposition[18]
Summary
In present-day high-performance electronic components, the generated heat loads result in unacceptably high junction temperatures and reduced component lifetimes. State-of-the-art bulk thermoelectric modules have a maximum cooling flux qmax of only about 10 W cm À 2, while state-of-the art commercial thin-film modules have a qmax o100 W cm À 2. Such flux values are insufficient for thermal management of modern high-power devices. Á f l ð1Þ where Sp and Sn are the Seebeck coefficients of the p- and n-type elements, respectively, rp and rn are the electrical resistivities of the p- and n-type elements, respectively, TC is the temperature of the cold side of the thermoelectric module, f is the packing fraction and l is the thickness of the thermoelectric elements. Significant progress has been made in recent years to increase ZT using nanostructured materials such as thin-film superlattices[1,18,25,26], thick films of quantum-dot superlattices[14] and nanocomposites[7,8,9]
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