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Upper Limitation to the Performance of Single-Barrier Thermionic Emission Cooling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Marc D. Ulrich ,
Peter A. Barnes  and
Cronin B. Vining
Marc D. Ulrich
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Auburn University, AL 36849
Peter A. Barnes
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Auburn University, AL 36849
Cronin B. Vining
Affiliation:
ZT Services, Auburn, AL 36830
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Abstract

We have re-examined solid-state thermionic emission cooling from first principles and report two key results. First, electrical and heat currents over a semiconductor – semiconductor thermionic barrier are determined by the chemical potential measured from the conduction band edge, not the energy band offset between the two materials as is sometimes assumed. Second, we show the upper limit to the performance of thermionic emission cooling is equivalent to the performance of an optimized thermoelectric device made from the same material. An overview of this theory will be presented and instrumentation being developed to experimentally verify the theory will be discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 626: Symposium Z – Thermoelectric Materials 2000 - The Next Generation Materials for Small-Scale Refrigeration and Power Generation Applications , 2000 , Z9.4
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

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References

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