A Cr-Ni Thermoelectric MEMS Energy Harvester for Low Profile Applications

Energy harvesting from heat has been investigated for many decades and has found place in many areas such as space industry, aviation, automotive and industrial applications. Thermoelectric energy harvesting has a valuable potential to be used in mobile systems as well. In this study, the design, fabrication and test results of a low cost and low profile MEMS thermoelectric energy harvester composed of Cr and Ni thermocouples is introduced for mobile computing applications. Finite element modelling for performance optimization of the thermoelectric energy harvester, fabrication, and validation have been completed. When a temperature difference of 10 K is supplied across the TE harvester, 1.71 V Seebeck voltage and 1.1 mu W electrical power can be generated within a 1cm(2) area and 600 mu m z-dimension thickness limitation.