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Development of laser-based joining technology for the fabrication of ceramic thermoelectric modules

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Abstract

The process of laser-induced brazing constitutes a potential option for connecting several ceramic components (n- and p-type ceramic bars and ceramic substrate) of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) unit. For the construction of the TEGs, TiOx and BxC were used as thermoelectric bars and AlN was used as substrate material. The required process time for joining is well below that of conventional furnace brazing processes and, furthermore, establishes the possibility of using a uniform filler system for all contacting points within the thermoelectric unit. In the work reported here, the application-specific optimization of the laser-joining process is presented as well as the adapted design of the thermoelectric modules. The properties of the produced bonding were characterized by using fatigue strength and microstructural investigations. Furthermore, the operational reliability of the modules was verified.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the European Union and the Free State of Saxony Grant No. SAB 13923/2379.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Power Engineering, TU Dresden, Dresden, 01062, Germany

    Floriana-Dana Börner, Max Schreier, Wolfgang Lippmann & Antonio Hurtado

  2. Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, Dresden, 01277, Germany

    Bing Feng, Hans-Peter Martin & Alexander Michaelis

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  1. Floriana-Dana Börner
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  2. Max Schreier
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  3. Bing Feng
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  4. Wolfgang Lippmann
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Correspondence to Floriana-Dana Börner.

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Börner, FD., Schreier, M., Feng, B. et al. Development of laser-based joining technology for the fabrication of ceramic thermoelectric modules. Journal of Materials Research 29, 1771–1780 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2014.216

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