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Characterization of a Bulk-Micromachined Membraneless In-Plane Thermopile

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Abstract

This paper describes the characterization method and results for bulk- micromachined in-plane thermopiles. Made of poly-Si or poly-SiGe, the thermocouple legs bridge the hot and cold side of a Si frame, which is formed by bulk micromachining. The characterization of the fabricated devices is carried out on a dedicated experimental setup, using which a uniform temperature difference can be imposed on all the thermocouples. Among design variations, the open-circuit output voltage reaches up to 95.0 mV/K and the corresponding output power on a matched external load is 2.34 × 10−3 μW/K2. Two possible assembly schemes towards a fully fledged thermoelectric generator are illustrated as well. In the case of vertical assembly, the efficiency factor is expected to be 1.73 × 10−2 μW/K2/cm2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Imec/Holst Centre, High Tech Campus 31, 5605 KN, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Ziyang Wang, Yvonne van Andel, Madhusudhanan Jambunathan, Rene Elfrink & Ruud J. M. Vullers

  2. Imec, Kapeldreef 75, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium

    Vladimir Leonov

Authors
  1. Ziyang Wang
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  2. Yvonne van Andel
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  3. Madhusudhanan Jambunathan
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  4. Vladimir Leonov
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  5. Rene Elfrink
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  6. Ruud J. M. Vullers
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Correspondence to Ziyang Wang.

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Wang, Z., van Andel, Y., Jambunathan, M. et al. Characterization of a Bulk-Micromachined Membraneless In-Plane Thermopile. J. Electron. Mater. 40, 499–503 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1402-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1402-2

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