Thin film thermoelectric cooling built with semiconductor process technology
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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and Samsung Electronics have developed a solid state thermoelectric cooling material that can be built in volume with semiconductor process technology.
The controlled hierarchically engineered superlattice structures (CHESS) are twice as efficient as devices made with commercially available bulk thermoelectric materials for cooling electronic equipment. The CHESS technology is the result of ten years of APL research, initially for national security applications for the DAPRA programme in the US, but it has also been used to provide a cooling sensation in prosthetic limbs.
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“This real-world demonstration of refrigeration using new thermoelectric materials showcases the capabilities of nano-engineered CHESS thin films,” said Rama Venkatasubramanian, principal investigator of the joint project and chief technologist for thermoelectrics at APL. “It marks a significant leap in cooling technology and sets the stage for translating advances in thermoelectric materials into practical, large-scale, energy-efficient refrigeration applications.”
This cools by using electrons to move heat through specialized semiconductor materials, eliminating the need for moving parts or challenging coolant liquids.
“We used metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) to produce the CHESS materials, a method well known for its scalability, cost-effectiveness and ability to support large-volume manufacturing,” said Jon Pierce, a senior research engineer who leads the MOCVD growth capability at APL. “MOCVD is already widely used commercially, making it ideal for scaling up CHESS thin-film thermoelectric materials production.”
Researchers then compared refrigeration modules using traditional bulk thermoelectric materials with those using CHESS thin-film materials in standardized refrigeration tests, measuring and comparing the electrical power needed to achieve various cooling levels in the same commercial refrigerator test systems.
The refrigeration team from Samsung Electronics, led by materials engineer Sungjin Jung, collaborated with APL to validate the results through detailed thermal modeling, quantifying heat loads and thermal resistance parameters to ensure accurate performance evaluation under real-world conditions.
Using CHESS materials, the APL team achieved nearly 100% improvement in efficiency over traditional thermoelectric materials at room temperature. This translates into a near 75% improvement in efficiency at the device level in thermoelectric modules and a 70% improvement in efficiency in a fully integrated refrigeration system.
“This thin-film technology has the potential to grow from powering small-scale refrigeration systems to supporting large building HVAC applications, similar to the way that lithium-ion batteries have been scaled to power devices as small as mobile phones and as large as electric vehicles,” said Venkatasubramanian.
These materials and devices continue to show promise for a broad range of energy harvesting and electronics applications in addition to the recent advances in refrigeration. APL plans to continue to partner with organizations to refine the CHESS thermoelectric materials with a focus on boosting efficiency to approach that of conventional mechanical systems. Future efforts include demonstrating larger-scale refrigeration systems, including freezers, and integrating artificial intelligence-driven methods to optimize energy efficiency in compartmentalized or distributed cooling in refrigeration and HVAC equipment.”
“Beyond refrigeration, CHESS materials are also able to convert temperature differences, like body heat, into usable power,” said Jeff Maranchi, Exploration Program Area manager in APL’s Research and Exploratory Development Mission Area. “In addition to advancing next-generation tactile systems, prosthetics and human-machine interfaces, this opens the door to scalable energy-harvesting technologies for applications ranging from computers to spacecraft — cooling capabilities that weren’t feasible with older bulkier thermoelectric devices.”
“The success of this collaborative effort demonstrates that high-efficiency solid-state refrigeration is not only scientifically viable but manufacturable at scale,” said Susan Ehrlich, an APL technology commercialization manager. “We’re looking forward to continued research and technology transfer opportunities with companies as we work toward translating these innovations into practical, real-world applications.”
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