Authors: Dávila, D.¹; Tarancón, A.²; Kendig, D.³; Fernández-Regúlez, M.²; Sabaté, N.²; Salleras, M.²; Calaza, C.²; Cané, C.²; Gràcia, I.²; Figueras, E.²; Santander, J.²; San Paulo, A.²; Shakouri, A.³; Fonseca, L.²

Source: Journal of Electronic Materials, Volume 40, Number 5, May 2011 , pp. 851-855(5)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

Silicon nanowires have been implemented in microfabricated structures to develop planar thermoelectric microgenerators (μTEGs) monolithically integrated in silicon to convert heat flow from thermal gradients naturally present in the environment into electrical energy. The compatibility of typical microfabrication technologies and the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism employed for silicon nanowire growth has been evaluated. Low-thermal-mass suspended structures have been designed, simulated, and microfabricated on silicon-on-insulator substrates to passively generate thermal gradients and operate as microgenerators using silicon nanowires as thermoelectric material. Both electrical measurements to evaluate the connectivity of the nanowires and thermoreflectance imaging to determine the heat transfer along the device have been employed.

Keywords: Microgenerator; silicon nanowires; thermoelectricity; harvesting

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11664-011-1591-3

Affiliations: 1: Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona, Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica (IMB-CNM, CSIC), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193, Barcelona, Spain, Email: diana.davila@imb-cnm.csic.es 2: Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona, Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica (IMB-CNM, CSIC), Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193, Barcelona, Spain 3: Jack Baskin School of Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

Publication date: 2011-05-01

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• By this author: Dávila, D. ;  Tarancón, A. ;  Kendig, D. ;  Fernández-Regúlez, M. ;  Sabaté, N. ;  Salleras, M. ;  Calaza, C. ;  Cané, C. ;  Gràcia, I. ;  Figueras, E. ;  Santander, J. ;  San Paulo, A. ;  Shakouri, A. ;  Fonseca, L.

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