Thermoelectrics with Distributed Transport Properties for Higher SWaP-C Electronic Deep Cooling and Thermal Management

Abstract

Thermoelectric (TE) devices (i.e., solid-state heat pumps with no moving parts or refrigerants) can be highly reliable, low in cost, compact and extremely light weight, and provide vibration-free operation. Conventional TE (CTE) devices have limited cooling capacity and, in some cases, cannot reach the deep cooling temperatures required to operate sensitive electronic components. Recently developed Distributed Transport Properties (DTP) TE technology has the prospect of achieving lower operating temperatures and significantly-improved efficiency and heat pumping capacity. The combined benefits can enable practical, inexpensive, light-weight, and highly-reliable cooling for LiDAR, CMOS, and other temperature-sensitive electronic systems. We discuss experimental laboratory measurements and modeling results for single-stage TE devices operating at a maximum temperature differential that exceeds the state-of-the-art TE modules by more than 7% and has greater than 50% higher heat pumping capacity and/or greater than 35% higher coefficient of performance (COP) under typical design operating conditions. We show that DTP TE devices require less TE material compared to conventional TE devices and have superior performance at both nominal and off-nominal operating conditions. Through further optimization of transport property distribution within the TE materials, we describe a path to achieve a 35% gain in the single-stage temperature differential and increases in COP and cooling power of greater than 40% and 100%, respectively, at high temperature differentials.