A p-n sandwich structure peltier device with a sharp microtip for cooling/heating micro-objects

摘要

A thermoelectric solid-state cooling/heating device applicable for small objects was proposed and fabricated as an alternative to the conventional pi-shaped device. The device includes a sharp microtip that is positioned between p- and n-type Bi2Te3-based bulks, and the tip can be easily exchanged when different targets are cooled or heated. The typical tip size is 100 mu m, and the smallest size is 1 mu m. The tip temperature reached -36.3 degrees C during cooling at a current of 28 A (18.2 W) and 251.5 degrees C during heating at a current of 20 A (12.2 W) when the hot side was set to 26.0 degrees C. The smallest time constant of the device during cooling was as small as 1.0 s at a current of 32 A (23.1 W), and that during heating was 2.0 s at a current of 20 A. (C) 2008 The Electrochemical Society.