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Microfabrication of thermoelectric modules by patterned electrodeposition using a multi-channel glass template

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Abstract

A microfabrication process has been developed to elaborate microscale thermoelectric modules with high-aspect-ratio pillars assembled in a glass micromold, whose multi-channels are formed by combining mechanical machining and hot-pressing processes. This paper describes how to fill the multi-channel glass molds with thermoelectric materials by introducing a patterned electrochemical deposition method, in which a deposition cathode with two series of interdigital electrodes is designed. A reverse-pulsed electrodeposition method is found effective to overcome the difficulty for deep-filling that is required for fabricating thermoelectric pillars with high aspect ratios. A pulse circle of −200 mV for 4 s, +500 mV for 1 s, and 0 mV for 3 s (vs. saturated calomel electrode) was determined for preparing N-type Bi2Te3 arrays with a high aspect ratio exceeding ten from a solution containing 0.0075 M Bi3+ and 0.01 M HTeO +2 . The as-deposited pillars show reasonable electrical resistivity as compared with common bulk Bi2Te3 materials.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant no. 2007CB607505) and National Nature Science Foundation (Grant no. 50820145203).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Da-Wei Liu & Jing-Feng Li

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  1. Da-Wei Liu
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  2. Jing-Feng Li
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Correspondence to Jing-Feng Li.

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Liu, DW., Li, JF. Microfabrication of thermoelectric modules by patterned electrodeposition using a multi-channel glass template. J Solid State Electrochem 15, 479–484 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-010-1104-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-010-1104-y

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