Extended area of sputter deposited n-type and p-type thermoelectric legs in a flexible thin-film based thermoelectric device
First Claim
1. A method of a thin-film based thermoelectric module, comprising:
- forming the thin-film based thermoelectric module by sputter depositing pairs of N-type thermoelectric legs and P-type thermoelectric legs electrically in contact with one another on corresponding electrically conductive pads on a flexible substrate such that an area of each sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric leg and another area of each sputter deposited P-type thermoelectric leg is more than an area of the corresponding electrically conductive pad to allow for extension thereof outside the corresponding electrically conductive pad, the flexible substrate being one of;
aluminum (Al) foil, a sheet of paper, teflon, plastic, a single-sided copper (Cu) clad laminate sheet, and a double-sided Cu clad laminate sheet, and the flexible substrate having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μ
m;
rendering the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module flexible and less than or equal to 100 μ
m in dimensional thickness based on choices of fabrication processes with respect to layers of the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module including the sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric legs and the P-type thermoelectric legs; and
encapsulating the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module with an elastomer to render the flexibility thereto, the elastomer encapsulation having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 15 μ
m, the flexibility enabling an array of thin-film based thermoelectric modules, each of which is equivalent to the thin-film based thermoelectric module formed on the flexible substrate with the elastomer encapsulation, to be completely wrappable and bendable around a system element from which the array of the thin-film based thermoelectric modules is configured to derive thermoelectric power, and a layer of the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module including the sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric legs and the P-type thermoelectric legs having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μ
m.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method includes forming a thin-film based thermoelectric module by sputter depositing pairs of N-type and P-type thermoelectric legs electrically in contact with one another on corresponding electrically conductive pads on a flexible substrate having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μm, with the legs having extended areas compared to the corresponding electrically conductive pads, and rendering the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module flexible and less than or equal to 100 μm in dimensional thickness based on choices of fabrication processes. The method also includes encapsulating the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module with an elastomer to render the flexibility thereto. The elastomer encapsulation has a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 15 μm, and the flexibility enables an array of thin-film based thermoelectric modules to be completely wrappable and bendable around a system element from which the array is configured to derive thermoelectric power.
211 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of a thin-film based thermoelectric module, comprising:
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forming the thin-film based thermoelectric module by sputter depositing pairs of N-type thermoelectric legs and P-type thermoelectric legs electrically in contact with one another on corresponding electrically conductive pads on a flexible substrate such that an area of each sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric leg and another area of each sputter deposited P-type thermoelectric leg is more than an area of the corresponding electrically conductive pad to allow for extension thereof outside the corresponding electrically conductive pad, the flexible substrate being one of;
aluminum (Al) foil, a sheet of paper, teflon, plastic, a single-sided copper (Cu) clad laminate sheet, and a double-sided Cu clad laminate sheet, and the flexible substrate having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μ
m;rendering the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module flexible and less than or equal to 100 μ
m in dimensional thickness based on choices of fabrication processes with respect to layers of the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module including the sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric legs and the P-type thermoelectric legs; andencapsulating the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module with an elastomer to render the flexibility thereto, the elastomer encapsulation having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 15 μ
m, the flexibility enabling an array of thin-film based thermoelectric modules, each of which is equivalent to the thin-film based thermoelectric module formed on the flexible substrate with the elastomer encapsulation, to be completely wrappable and bendable around a system element from which the array of the thin-film based thermoelectric modules is configured to derive thermoelectric power, and a layer of the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module including the sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric legs and the P-type thermoelectric legs having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μ
m. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of a thin-film based thermoelectric module, comprising:
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forming the thin-film based thermoelectric module by sputter depositing pairs of N-type thermoelectric legs and P-type thermoelectric legs electrically in contact with one another on corresponding electrically conductive pads on a flexible substrate such that an area of each sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric leg and another area of each sputter deposited P-type thermoelectric leg is more than an area of the corresponding electrically conductive pad to allow for extension thereof outside the corresponding electrically conductive pad, the flexible substrate being one of;
Al foil, a sheet of paper, teflon, plastic, a single-sided Cu clad laminate sheet, and a double-sided Cu clad laminate sheet, and the flexible substrate having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μ
m;rendering the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module flexible and less than or equal to 100 μ
m in dimensional thickness based on choices of fabrication processes with respect to layers of the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module including the sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric legs and the P-type thermoelectric legs, a layer of the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module including the sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric legs and the P-type thermoelectric legs having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μ
m;encapsulating the formed thin-film based thermoelectric module with an elastomer to render the flexibility thereto, the elastomer encapsulation having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 15 μ
m; andwrapping and bending an array of thin-film based thermoelectric modules, each of which is equivalent to the thin-film based thermoelectric module formed on the flexible substrate with the elastomer encapsulation, completely around a system element from which the array of the thin-film based thermoelectric modules is configured to derive thermoelectric power in accordance with the flexibility thereof. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of a thin-film based thermoelectric device comprising:
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forming the thin-film based thermoelectric device out of an array of thermoelectric modules, each of which is less than or equal to 100 μ
m in dimensional thickness and is formed by sputter depositing pairs of N-type thermoelectric legs and P-type thermoelectric legs electrically in contact with one another on corresponding electrically conductive pads on a flexible substrate such that an area of each sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric leg and another area of each sputter deposited P-type thermoelectric leg is more than an area of the corresponding electrically conductive pad to allow for extension thereof outside the corresponding electrically conductive pad, the flexible substrate being one of;
Al foil, a sheet of paper, teflon, plastic, a single-sided Cu clad laminate sheet, and a double-sided Cu clad laminate sheet, the flexible substrate having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μ
m, and a layer of the each thermoelectric module including the sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric legs and the P-type thermoelectric legs having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μ
m;rendering the formed thin-film based thermoelectric device flexible based on choices of fabrication processes with respect to layers of the each thermoelectric module including the sputter deposited N-type thermoelectric legs and the P-type thermoelectric legs; and encapsulating the each thermoelectric module of the formed thin-film based thermoelectric device with an elastomer to render the flexibility thereto, the elastomer encapsulation having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 15 μ
m, and the flexibility enabling the formed thin-film based thermoelectric device to be completely wrappable and bendable around a system element from which the formed thin-film based thermoelectric device is configured to derive thermoelectric power. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification