Micro thermoelectric device and manufacturing method thereof

• US 8,426,720 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2004
• Issued: 04/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Liu, Chun-Kai, Cheng, Jen-Hau
• Primary Examiner(s): Michener, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dam, Dustin Q
• Application Number:
  US10/902,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20050150538A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,189 Days
• Field of Search: 136/205, 136/201, 136/233
• US Class Current: 136/205
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 10/01 Manufacture or treatment
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 10/17 characterised by the structure or configuration of the cell or thermocouple forming the device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a micro thermoelectric device and manufacturing method thereof, and the manufacturing method comprises the steps of providing a substrate and depositing a barrier layer on the substrate, using the barrier layer as a mask to etch a pattern on the barrier layer to form a plurality of openings, adopting a reactive ion etching (RIE) method to remove the barrier layer and smoothing the curvature of the corner of each groove, depositing a metal conductive wire layer, coating an adhesive layer in said each groove by a surface mount technology (SMT), placing a plurality of thermoelectric materials individually into each groove, repeating steps (a) to (f) to produce another substrate, and connecting the two substrates into an aligned position.

Claims

1. A micro thermoelectric device, comprising:

a first substrate, having a first major surface and a plurality of first grooves defined in said first major surface, each of the first grooves including a first interior sidewall and a first bottom surface;

a first continuous metal conductive wire layer, disposed on said first major surface and covering at least the first interior sidewall and the first bottom surface of each of said first grooves and at least a portion of the major surface between the first grooves;

a second substrate, having a second major surface corresponding to said first major surface, the second major surface defining a plurality of second grooves, each of which corresponds to a respective one of said plurality of first grooves;

a second continuous metal conductive wire layer, disposed on said second major surface and covering each of said second grooves;

a plurality of adhesive layers, individually disposed in said first grooves and said second grooves;

a plurality of thermoelectric materials, each of which is disposed within a respective, corresponding pair of said first grooves and said second grooves.

2. The micro thermoelectric device of claim 1, wherein said first grooves and said second grooves are in a cubic shape.

3. The micro thermoelectric device of claim 1, wherein said thermoelectric material is in a cubic shape.

11. The micro thermoelectric device of claim 1, wherein each of the second grooves includes a second interior sidewall and a second bottom surface, and the second continuous metal conductive wire layer is disposed on said second major surface and covers at least the second interior sidewall and the second bottom surface of each of the second grooves and at least a portion of the major surface between the second grooves.

4. A micro thermoelectric device, comprising:

a first substrate, having a first major surface and a plurality of first grooves defined in said first major surface, each of the first grooves including a first singular continuous interior surface;

a first continuous metal conductive wire layer, disposed on said first major surface and covering at least a portion of the first singular continuous interior surface of each of said first grooves and at least a portion of the major surface between the first grooves;

a second substrate, having a second major surface corresponding to said first major surface, the second major surface defining a plurality of second grooves, each of which corresponds to a respective one of said plurality of first grooves;

a second continuous metal conductive wire layer, disposed on said second major surface and covering each of said second grooves;

a plurality of adhesive layers, individually disposed in said first grooves and said second grooves;

a plurality of thermoelectric materials, each of which is disposed within a respective, corresponding pair of said first grooves and said second grooves,

wherein at least a pair of said first grooves and respective said second grooves are in a semi-spherical shape.

5. The micro thermoelectric device of claim 4, wherein said thermoelectric material is in a spherical shape.

12. The micro thermoelectric device of claim 4, wherein each of the second grooves includes a second continuous interior surface, the second continuous metal conductive wire layer covers at least the second continuous interior surface of each of said second grooves and at least a portion of the major surface between the second grooves.

6. A micro thermoelectric device, comprising:

a first substrate and a second substrate, at least one of said first and second substrate comprising a major surface and a plurality of grooves defined in the major surface, at least one of the plurality of grooves including an interior sidewall and a bottom surface;

a first continuous conductive wire layer, disposed on the surface of said first substrate and second substrate, and covering at least the interior sidewall and the bottom surface of the groove and at least a portion of the major surface between the adjacent grooves;

a plurality of adhesive layers, individually disposed in each of said grooves;

a plurality of thermoelectric materials disposed within said grooves.

7. The micro thermoelectric device of claim 6, wherein said grooves are in a cubic shape.

8. The micro thermoelectric device of claim 6, wherein said thermoelectric material is in a cubic shape.

9. A micro thermoelectric device, comprising:

a first substrate and a second substrate, at least one of said first and second substrate comprising a major surface and a plurality of grooves defined in the major surface, at least one of the plurality of grooves including a singular continuous interior surface;

a metal continuous conductive wire layer, disposed on surfaces of said first substrate and second substrate, and covering at least a portion of the singular continuous interior surface of the groove and at least a portion of the major surface between the adjacent grooves;

a plurality of adhesive layers, individually disposed in each of said grooves;

a plurality of thermoelectric materials disposed within said grooves.

10. The micro thermoelectric device of claim 9, wherein said thermoelectric material is in a spherical shape.

13. The micro thermoelectric device of claim 9, wherein at least a pair of said first grooves and respective said second grooves are in a semi-spherical shape.