METHOD OF FABRICATION OF AN INTEGRATED THERMOELECTRIC CONVERTER, AND INTEGRATED THERMOELECTRIC CONVERTER THUS OBTAINED

• Main Authors: VILLA, Flavio Francesco, FERRARI, Paolo, ZULLINO, Lucia, ZANOTTI, Luca, NOMELLINI, Andrea, SCOLARI, Martina, MURARI, Bruno, SEGHIZZI, Luca
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 18.09.2024
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

A method of fabricating a thermoelectric converter comprises: providing a layer (115; 215) of a Silicon-based material having a first surface and a second surface, opposite to and separated from the first surface by a Silicon-based material layer thickness; forming a plurality of first thermoelectrically active elements (133a; 237; 330a) of a first thermoelectric semiconductor material having a first Seebeck coefficient, and forming a plurality of second thermoelectrically active elements (133b; 249; 330b) of a second thermoelectric semiconductor material having a second Seebeck coefficient, wherein the first and second thermoelectrically active elements are formed to extend through the Silicon-based material layer (115; 215) thickness, from the first surface to the second surface; forming electrically conductive interconnections (143, 413; 257, 413) in correspondence of the first surface and of the second surface of the layer of Silicon-based material (115; 215),, for electrically interconnecting the plurality of first thermoelectrically active elements and the plurality of second thermoelectrically active elements, and forming an input electrical terminal (257') and an output electrical terminal (257") electrically connected to the electrically conductive interconnections, wherein the first thermoelectric semiconductor material and the second thermoelectric semiconductor material comprise Silicon-based materials selected among porous Silicon or polycrystalline SiGe or polycrystalline Silicon.