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Cross-plane Thermoreflectance Imaging of Thermoelectric Elements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Peter M. Mayer  and
Rajeev J. Ram
Peter M. Mayer
Affiliation:
[email protected], Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States, 617-253-2125
Rajeev J. Ram
Affiliation:
[email protected], Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, United States
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Abstract

This paper presents the first cross-plane thermoreflectance image of the temperature distribution in a thermoelectric (TE) element under bias. Using the technique of lock-in CCD thermoreflectance imaging, we can map the temperature distribution of an operational device with submicron spatial resolution and a temperature resolution of 10 mK. As such it offers a complete picture of the quasi-equilibrium transport within the device. The submicron resolution of the thermoreflectance image enables clear determination of localized heating due at interfaces - for example to due contact resistance - and thermal impedance mismatch within samples. The high spatial resolution is ideal for the characterization of thin-film thermoelectric materials where data from conventional techniques (such as the transient Harman method) are difficult to interpret. This paper also presents the first thermoreflectance data we are aware of for BiTe-based material systems. Identification and separation of the Peltier and Joule components of the heating are possible, and finite difference simulations of the devices are presented for comparison with experiment. In this way it is possible to simultaneously acquire information about the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity of the thermoelectric material. The measurements demonstrate the feasibility of non-contact thermal measurements at the sub-micron scale.

Keywords

thermoelectricitythermally stimulated currentmetallic conductor
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 886: Symposium F – Materials and Technologies fore Direct Thermal-to-Electric Energy Conversion , 2005 , 0886-F10-06
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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References

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