Effects of Size and Interface Thermal Resistance on the Performance of Thermoelectric Microcoolers

• Main Authors: Yuan-Chien Horng, 洪源鍵
• Other Authors: Hsin-Sen Chu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/eurxa4

碩士 === 國立交通大學 === 機械工程系所 === 92 === This study discusses the problem of one dimensional thermal transport inside the superlattice structure. Equation of phonon radiative transfer and inelastic diffusive mismatch model were used to analyze small scale heat transfer and interface thermal resistance respectively. This study focuses on the effects of variations of periods and thickness on the effective thermal conductivity and figure-of-merit of superlattice used for thermoelectric materials. When the thickness of each thin is fixed, the effective thermal conductivity and figure-of-merit would not change with periods. It is noticed that when the thickness of each film is comparable to phonon mean free path, the effect of size on decrease of thermal conductivity is significant. Otherwise, interface thermal resistance changes with only periods but thickness of superlattice, and it plays an important role as thickness of superlattice decreases. If Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 superlattice is used for thermoelectric material, no matter how thick superlattice is, it is helpful to increase figure-of-merit when the thickness of each film is thinner.