FLEXIBLE ENCAPSULATION OF A FLEXIBLE THIN-FILM BASED THERMOELECTRIC DEVICE WITH SPUTTER DEPOSITED LAYER OF N-TYPE AND P-TYPE THERMOELECTRIC LEGS

摘要

A thin-film based thermoelectric module includes a flexible substrate having a dimensional thickness less than or equal to 25 μm, and a number of pairs of N-type and P-type thermoelectric legs electrically in contact with one another on the flexible substrate. The thin-film based thermoelectric module also includes a number of conductive interconnects on top of the number of pairs of the N-type and the P-type thermoelectric legs, and an elastomer encapsulating the flexible substrate, the number of pairs of the N-type and the P-type thermoelectric legs and the number of conductive interconnects to render flexibility to the thin-film based thermoelectric module such that an array of equivalent thin-film based thermoelectric modules is completely wrappable and bendable around a system element from which the array is configured to derive thermoelectric power. The thin-film based thermoelectric module is less than or equal to 100 μm in dimensional thickness.