A CMOS compatible thermoelectric device made of crystalline silicon membranes with nanopores

Abstract

Abstract Herein, we report the use of nanostructured crystalline silicon as a thermoelectric material and its integration into thermoelectric devices. The proof-of-concept relies on the partial suppression of lattice thermal conduction by introducing pores with dimensions scaling between the electron mean free path and the phonon mean free path. In other words, we artificially aimed at the well-known ‘electron crystal and phonon glass’ trade-off targeted in thermoelectricity. The devices were fabricated using CMOS-compatible processes and exhibited power generation up to 5.5 mW cm−2 under a temperature difference of 280 K. These numbers demonstrate the capability to power autonomous devices with environmental heat sources using silicon chips of centimeter square dimensions. We also report the possibility of using the developed devices for integrated thermoelectric cooling.