Thermoelectric energy conversion: How good can silicon be?

Maciej Haras , Valeria Lacatena , François Morini , J.F. Robillard , Stephane Monfray , Thomas Skotnicki , Emmanuel Dubois

Lack of materials which are thermoelectrically efficient and economically attractive is a challenge in thermoelectricity. Silicon could be a good thermoelectric material offering CMOS compatibility, harmlessness and cost reduction but it features a too high thermal conductivity. High harvested power density of 7 W/cm(2) at Delta T= 30 K is modeled based on a thin-film lateral architecture of thermo-converter that takes advantage of confinement effects to reduce the thermal conductivity. The simulation leads to the conclusion that 10 nm thick Silicon has 10 x higher efficiency than bulk. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mots clés: Thin films; Energy storage and conversion; Simulation and modeling; Semiconductors; Electrical properties; Thermal properties

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Maciej Haras, Valeria Lacatena, François Morini, J.F. Robillard, Stephane Monfray, et al.. Thermoelectric energy conversion: How good can silicon be?. Materials Letters, 2015, 157, pp.193-196. ⟨10.1016/j.matlet.2015.05.012⟩. ⟨hal-03325003⟩