On chip thermoelectric microcoolers

Abstract

The present work reports the fabrication and characterization of a planar Peltier microcooler on a flexible substrate. The microcooler was fabricated on flexible Kapton© polyimide substrate, 12 µm in thickness, using Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 thermoelectric elements deposited by thermal co-evaporation. The cold area of the device is cooled using four pairs of thermoelectric elements, connected in series with aluminum/nickel contacts. Flexible substrates add uncommon mechanical properties to the composite filmsubstrate and enable their integration with many novel types of electronic devices. Films were deposited by coevaporation of Bismuth and Tellurium or Antimony and Tellurium to obtain Bi2Te3 or Sb2Te3 compounds, respectively. The performance of Peltier microcooler is analyzed by infrared image microscopy, on still-air and under vacuum conditions, and the temperature difference between the cold side and the hot side of the device is recorded and it’s comparable with literature available for Peltier microcoolers on rigid substrates.