Differential resistance methods for characterizing figure of merit of microcoolers

We present simple electrical measurement methods for extracting the figure-of-merit of thermoelectric coolers. These methods rely on accurate measurement of the differential resistance of thermoelements as a function of frequency and operating currents, and on inferring the thermoelectric cooling performance from the electrical signatures. We have validated these methods on a variety of thermoelectric coolers of physical scales ranging from centimeters to microns. These techniques are important for rapid development of new microcooler technologies.