Effect of metal heat guide structure on the performance of planar Si thermoelectric generator embedded in SiO2 inter-layer dielectric

Abstract

Abstract Heat guide (HG) is a layer providing a heat flux to the desired part in a micro thermoelectric generator (μ-TEG). In this work, we experimentally investigated the impact of the HG structure on the thermoelectric voltage of a cavity-free planer-type Si-nanowire (Si-NW) μ-TEG, which is embedded in SiO2 acting as an inter-layer dielectric (ILD). Although the heat flows also through the ILD, a sub-μm-thick HG is able to selectively guide the heat flux to the hot side terminal of the μ-TEG, and the μ-TEG performance is improved by increasing the thickness of the HG.