Title :
Energy conversion using diode-like structures
Author :
Kucherov, Yan ; Hagelstein, Peter ; Sevastyanenko, Victor
Author_Institution :
ENECO Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Abstract :
An experimental study of diode structures with the basic configuration ohmic/n*/n/intrinsic/ohmic shows a significant enhancement of heat to electricity conversion performance compared to the initial thermoelectric material (n). Direct electrical and thermal measurements indicate a conversion efficiency that is as high as 40% of the ideal Carnot cycle limit.
Keywords :
diodes; electric current measurement; heat transfer; temperature measurement; thermal conductivity measurement; thermoelectric conversion; thermoelectric devices; voltage measurement; current injection mechanism; current measurement; diode-like structures; electrical measurements; energy conversion; heat flow measurement; heat to electricity conversion enhancement; ideal Carnot cycle limit; ohmic/n*/n/intrinsic/ohmic structure; temperature measurement; thermal conductivity measurement; thermal measurements; thermoelectric material; voltage measurement; Cities and towns; Electron emission; Energy conversion; Ohmic contacts; Resistance heating; Semiconductor diodes; Semiconductor materials; Temperature; Thermoelectricity; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Thermoelectrics, 2002. Proceedings ICT '02. Twenty-First International Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7683-8
DOI :
10.1109/ICT.2002.1190353
