The principles of thermionic refrigeration are explained. The simplext device is composed of two metal plates separated by a vacuum gap. This device is efficient at room temperature only for plates with small work functions (e PHI < 0.3 eV)> Small barriers ar available in semiconductor-semiconductor interfaces (band off-sets) and in metal-semiconductor interfaces(Schottky barriers). An efficient refrigerator is modeled for these systems. Possible re-alizations are discussed.
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