CMOS MEMS-based thermoelectric generator with an efficient heat dissipation path

This paper presents a CMOS MEMS-based thermoelectric energy generator (TEG) device with an efficient heat dissipation path. For present CMOS MEMS-based thermoelectric generator devices, the output performance is greatly limited by the high thermal-contact resistance in the system. For the device proposed in the work, the silicon substrate is etched into two comb-shaped blocks thermally isolated from each other, which form the hot and cold sides. Thin-film-based thermal legs are densely located between the two blocks along the winding split line. Low internal thermal-contact resistance is achieved with the symmetrical thermal structure. When the TEG device is embedded between the heat source and heat sink, the heat loss can be well controlled with flat thermal-contact pads of the device. For a full device with 900 n/p-polysilicon thermocouples, the measured open-circuit voltage reaches as high as 146 mV K-1, and the power factor reaches almost five times higher value compared to the previously reported results. A test system integrated with a single device presents an open-circuit voltage of 110 mV K-1 when forcibly cooled by a Peltier cooler, or 26 mV K-1 when cooled by ambient air.