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Abstract

A thermoelectric module comprised of a quantum well thermoelectric material with low thermal conductivity and low electrical resitivity (high conductivity) for producing n-legs and p-legs for thermoelectric modules. These qualities are achieved by fabricating crystalline quantum well super-lattice layers on a substrate material having very low thermal conductivity. Prior to depositing the super-lattice thermoelectric layers the low thermal conductivity substrate is coated with a thin layer of crystalline semi-conductor material, preferably silicon. This greatly improves the thermoelectric quality of the super-lattice quantum well layers. In preferred embodiments the super-lattice layers are about 4 nm to 20 nm thick. In preferred embodiments about 100 to 1000 of these super-lattice layers are deposited on each substrate layer, to provide films of super-lattice layers with thicknesses of in the range of about 0.4 microns to about 20 microns on much thicker substrates. The substrates may be a few microns to a few millimeters thick. The thermoelectric films are then stacked and fabricated into thermoelectric p-legs and n-legs which in turn are fabricated into thermoelectric modules. These layers of quantum well material may in preferred embodiments be separated by much thicker layers of thermal and electrical insulating material such that the volume of insulating material in each leg is at least 20 times larger than the volume of quantum well material.

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