Fabrication of nanoscale thermoelectric devices
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for fabricating a nanowire thermoelectric device comprising the steps of:
- providing a substrate upon which to form nanowires, wherein the substrate comprises substrate electrodes passing from a top exposed surface of the substrate to a bottom exposed surface of the substrate;
forming a first electrode pattern on the bottom surface of the substrate, wherein the first electrode pattern forms a plurality of electrically connected groups of substrate electrodes;
forming a p-type nanowire on the substrate by activating at least one electrically connected group of substrate electrodes;
forming a n-type nanowire on the substrate by activating at least one other electrically connected group of substrate electrodes;
forming top electrodes to connect the p-type nanowire and the n-type nanowire and forming a second electrode pattern on the bottom surface of the substrate to replace the first electrode pattern such that a thermocouple is formed.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention concerns a method for fabricating a nanowire thermoelectric device comprising the step of providing a substrate upon which to form nanowires. The substrate comprises substrate electrodes passing from a top exposed surface of the substrate to a bottom exposed surface of the substrate. Another step involves forming a first electrode pattern, which forms first and second electrically connected groups of substrate electrodes, on the bottom surface of the substrate. A p-type nanowire is then formed on the substrate by activating the first group of substrate electrodes during p-type material deposition. Similarly, a n-type nanowire is formed by activating the second group of substrate electrodes during n-type material deposition. And top electrodes are formed to connect the p-type and the n-type nanowires and a second electrode pattern is formed on the bottom side of the substrate to replace the first electrode pattern to form a thermocouple.
54 Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A method for fabricating a nanowire thermoelectric device comprising the steps of:
-
providing a substrate upon which to form nanowires, wherein the substrate comprises substrate electrodes passing from a top exposed surface of the substrate to a bottom exposed surface of the substrate;
forming a first electrode pattern on the bottom surface of the substrate, wherein the first electrode pattern forms a plurality of electrically connected groups of substrate electrodes;
forming a p-type nanowire on the substrate by activating at least one electrically connected group of substrate electrodes;
forming a n-type nanowire on the substrate by activating at least one other electrically connected group of substrate electrodes;
forming top electrodes to connect the p-type nanowire and the n-type nanowire and forming a second electrode pattern on the bottom surface of the substrate to replace the first electrode pattern such that a thermocouple is formed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A method for fabricating a nanowire thermoelectric device comprising the steps of:
-
providing a substrate upon which to form nanowires, wherein the substrate comprises substrate electrodes passing from a top surface of the substrate to a bottom surface of the substrate, and wherein the substrate electrodes are electrically connected to each other by a first conducting layer disposed on the bottom surface of the substrate;
forming a first electrode pattern using the first conducting layer, wherein the first electrode pattern forms first and second electrically connected groups of substrate electrodes;
disposing a nanopore formation layer on the substrate within which nanopores may be formed;
forming nanopores within the nanopore formation layer after disposing the nanopore formation layer on the substrate, such that the nanopores are registered to the substrate electrodes;
forming a p-type nanowire in some of the nanopores by activating the first electrically connected group of substrate electrodes during a p-type material deposition;
forming a n-type nanowire in some of the nanopores by activating the second electrically connected group of substrate electrodes during n-type material deposition;
forming top electrodes on the nanopore formation layer to connect the p-type nanowire to the n-type nanowire;
replacing the first electrode pattern with a second electrode pattern on the bottom surface of the substrate to form nanowire thermocouples, wherein the nanowire thermocouples form either a serial or a parallel connection or a combination of both; and
encapsulating the substrate and nanowire thermocouples to form a nanowire thermoelectric module.
-
Specification
-
- Resources
Litigation Campaign Assessment
Thank you for your request. You will receive a custom alert email when the Litigation Campaign Assessment is available.
×
-
Current AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
-
Original AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
-
InventorsMiyawaki, Mamoru, Kohler, Timothy L., Okamura, Yoshimasa
-
Application NumberUS10/666,787Publication NumberTime in Patent OfficeDaysField of SearchUS Class Current29/846CPC Class CodesH10N 10/01 Manufacture or treatmentH10N 10/17 characterised by the struct...Y10T 29/49128 Assembling formed circuit t...Y10T 29/49155 Manufacturing circuit on or...Y10T 29/49194 Assembling elongated conduc...
