Claims
- 1. A solid state energy converter with n-type conductivity, comprising:
an emitter region in thermal communication with a hot heat exchange surface, the emitter region comprising an n-type region with donor concentration n* for electron emission; a semiconductor gap region with a donor doping n, the gap region in electrical and thermal communication with the emitter region; and a p-type barrier layer with acceptor concentration p* interposed between the emitter region and the gap region, the p-type barrier layer configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region.
- 2. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, further comprising a collector region in thermal communication with a cold heat exchange surface.
- 3. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, wherein the gap region is in electrical and thermal communication with the collector region.
- 4. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, further comprising a first ohmic contact in electrical communication with the emitter region.
- 5. The solid state energy converter of claim 4, further comprising a second ohmic contact in electrical communication with the collector region.
- 6. The solid state energy converter of claim 5, wherein the first and second ohmic contacts close an electrical circuit through an external load for heat to electricity conversion.
- 7. The solid state energy converter of claim 5, wherein the first and second ohmic contacts close an electrical circuit through an external power source for electricity to refrigeration conversion.
- 8. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, wherein the emitter region comprises a metal or a highly doped semiconductor.
- 9. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, wherein the gap region is at least 1 carrier scattering length wide.
- 10. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, wherein the gap region is at least 5 carrier scattering lengths wide.
- 11. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, wherein the gap region is segmented and comprises a first layer of a semiconductor material, and a second layer of a metal or a different semiconductor material.
- 12. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, wherein the p* doping concentration of the p-type barrier layer relates to the n doping concentration of the gap region as pi>ni (m*p/m*n), where m*p is the effective mass of holes, m*n is the effective mass of electrons, and subscript i denotes ionized fraction of carriers at a given temperature.
- 13. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, wherein the collector region comprises an additional injection barrier layer with a carrier concentration p** that is adjacent to the gap region to reduce a thermoelectric back flow component.
- 14. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, wherein the collector region comprises an additional compensation layer with acceptor concentration p* serving as a blocking layer at the cold side of the converter, and the acceptor concentration being the same as the donor concentration in the gap region.
- 15. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, wherein the collector region comprises two p-type layers, one layer with a carrier concentration p* serving as a blocking layer at the cold side of the converter, and the other layer with a carrier concentration p** serving as an additional injection barrier layer and being adjacent to the gap region to reduce a thermoelectric back flow component.
- 16. The solid state energy converter of claim 13, wherein the p** doping concentration of the additional injection barrier layer relates to the n doping concentration of the gap region as pi>ni (m*p/m*n), where m*p is the effective mass of holes, m*n is the effective mass of electrons, and subscript i denotes ionized fraction of carriers at a given temperature.
- 17. A solid state energy converter with n-type conductivity, comprising:
an emitter region in thermal communication with a hot heat exchange surface, the emitter region comprising an n-type region with donor concentration n* for electron emission; a p-type barrier layer with acceptor concentration p* adjacent to the emitter region, the p-type barrier layer configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity; and a segmented gap region adjacent to the p-type barrier layer and comprising a first layer of a semiconductor material, and a second layer of a metal or a different highly n-doped semiconductor material, the second layer reducing heat flow density.
- 18. The solid state energy converter of claim 17, further comprising a first ohmic contact in electrical communication with the emitter region.
- 19. The solid state energy converter of claim 17, further comprising a second ohmic contact in electrical communication with the gap region.
- 20. The solid state energy converter of claim 17, wherein the first layer is at least 1 electron scattering length wide.
- 21. The solid state energy converter of claim 17, wherein the first layer is at least 5 electron scattering lengths wide.
- 22. A solid state energy converter with p-type conductivity, comprising:
an emitter region in thermal communication with a hot heat exchange surface, the emitter region comprising a p-type region with acceptor concentration p* for hole emission; a semiconductor gap region with a donor doping p, the gap region in electrical and thermal communication with the emitter region; and an n-type barrier layer with donor concentration n* interposed between the emitter region and the gap region, the n-type barrier layer configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region.
- 23. The solid state energy converter of claim 22, further comprising a collector region in thermal communication with a cold heat exchange surface.
- 24. The solid state energy converter of claim 23, wherein the gap region is in electrical and thermal communication with the collector region.
- 25. The solid state energy converter of claim 23, further comprising a first ohmic contact in electrical communication with the emitter region.
- 26. The solid state energy converter of claim 25, further comprising a second ohmic contact in electrical communication with the collector region.
- 27. The solid state energy converter of claim 26, wherein the first and second ohmic contacts close an electrical circuit through an external load for heat to electricity conversion.
- 28. The solid state energy converter of claim 26, wherein the first and second ohmic contacts close an electrical circuit through an external power source for electricity to refrigeration conversion.
- 29. The solid state energy converter of claim 22, wherein the gap region is at least 1 carrier scattering length wide
- 30. The solid state energy converter of claim 22, wherein the gap region is at least 5 carrier scattering lengths wide.
- 31. A solid state energy converter, comprising:
a thermal diode stack comprising:
a first diode with a design structure of n*/p/n on a hot side of the converter; and a plurality of diodes having the same structure as the first diode that terminate on a cold side of the converter with an n* layer.
- 32. A solid state energy converter, comprising:
a thermal diode stack comprising:
a first diode with a design structure of n*/p/n/pc on a hot side of the converter; and a plurality of diodes having the same structure as the first diode that terminate on a cold side of the converter with an n* layer.
- 33. A solid state energy converter, comprising:
a thermal diode stack comprising:
a first diode with a design structure of n*/p/n/pi on a hot side of the converter; and a plurality of diodes having the same structure as the first diode that terminate on a cold side of the converter with an n* layer.
- 34. A solid state energy converter, comprising:
a thermal diode stack comprising:
a first diode with a design structure of n*/p/n/pi/pc on a hot side of the converter; and a plurality of diodes having the same structure as the first diode that terminate on a cold side of the converter with an n* layer.
- 35. A method for converting thermal energy to electric energy, or electric energy to refrigeration, comprising:
injecting carriers into an n-type gap region from a highly doped n* emitter region through a p-type barrier layer positioned between the emitter region and the gap region; allowing for discontinuity of corresponding Fermi-levels; and forming a potential barrier to sort electrons by energy.
- 36. A method for converting thermal energy to electric energy, or electric energy to refrigeration, comprising:
injecting carriers into a p-type gap region from a highly doped p* emitter region through an n-type barrier layer positioned between the emitter region and the gap region; allowing for discontinuity of corresponding Fermi-levels; and forming a potential barrier to sort electrons by energy.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/454,511, filed on Mar. 13, 2003, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/307,241, filed on Nov. 27, 2002, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/519,640, filed on Mar. 6, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,704 B1, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/123,900, filed on Mar. 11, 1999, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60454511 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
|
60123900 |
Mar 1999 |
US |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09519640 |
Mar 2000 |
US |
Child |
10307241 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10307241 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Child |
10801072 |
Mar 2004 |
US |