Thermoelectric energy harvester fabricated in thick-film/LTCC technology

Purpose – The purpose of this work was fabrication of a small energy harvester. Design/methodology/approach – The multilayer thermoelectric power generator based on thick-film and low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology was fabricated. Precise paths printing method was used to fabricate A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microelectronics international 2014-08, Vol.31 (3), p.176-185
Main Author: Markowski, Piotr
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cold
Conductivity
Electric power
Electric power generation
Electrical & electronic engineering
Energy
Engineering
Generators
Harvesters
Heat conductivity
Multilayers
Power supply
Silver
Stacks
Studies
Thermocouples
Thermodynamics
Thermoelectricity
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Summary:Purpose – The purpose of this work was fabrication of a small energy harvester. Design/methodology/approach – The multilayer thermoelectric power generator based on thick-film and low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology was fabricated. Precise paths printing method was used to fabricate Ag/Ni and Ag/PdAg thermocouples on a number of unfired LTCC tapes. The tapes were put together to form a multilayer stack. The via holes were used to make the electrical connections between adjacent layers. Finally, the multilayer stack was fired in the appropriate thermal profile. Findings – It consists of 450 thermocouples and generates output voltage of about 0.45 V and output electrical power of about 0.13 mW when a temperature difference along the structure is 135°C. In the paper, individual stages of energy harvester fabrication process as well as its output parameters are presented. Originality/value – Miniaturized thermoelectric energy harvester based on thick-film and LTCC technology was fabricated. As materials, metal-based pastes were used. This is the first paper where multilayer thermoelectric harvester, fabricated with the aid of LTCC technology, was described.
ISSN:1356-5362
1758-812X
DOI:10.1108/MI-11-2013-0077