Park, W., Barako, M.T., Marconnet, A.M., Asheghi, M., and Goodson, K.E. “Effect of Thermal Cycling on Commercial Thermoelectric Modules”. IEEE Intersociety Conference on Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems (ITHERM) 2012, May 30 – June 1, San Diego, CA
Abstract
PDFThe large temperature gradients experienced by thermoelectric modules induce significant thermal stresses which eventually lead to device failure. The impact of thermal cycling on a commercial thermoelectric module is investigated through characterization of the electrical properties. In this work, we measure the evolution of the thermoelectric and electrical properties with thermal cycling. One side of the thermoelectric module is cycled between 30oC and 160°C every 3 minutes while the other side is held at ~20°C. The thermoelectric figure of merit,