This article is cited in 3 papers

Solid-State Electronics

Conversion of environmental heat to electric energy in the metal–dielectric–semiconductor–metal system

L. S. Lunin, G. Ya. Karapetyan, V. G. Dneprovskii, V. F. Kataev

Southern Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Rostov-on-Don

Abstract: The basis of the proposed converter is a thermoelectric capacitor, which is the system of a metal–dielectric–semiconductor–metal. In such a system, non-zero conversion of the environmental heat into electrical energy without preliminarily creating a temperature gradient is possible. Charging of the thermoelectric capacitor takes place through the bottom electrode of the semiconductor substrate and discharging takes place through the near-surface layer enriched electrons formed during charging in the near-surface layer on the boundary with the dielectric. In this case, the amount of absorbed heat at the capacitor charging in the contact of the metal-semiconductor is greater than being allocated heat at the discharge. This is due to the fact that the contact difference between the bottom electrode and semiconductor is more than the contact difference between the metal and near-surface enriched layer in which the concentration of electrons is significantly more than in the volume of a semiconductor. As a result, the absorbed heat, which is not emitted, is converted into electrical energy at the discharge according to the law of conservation of energy.

Received: 18.04.2011
Accepted: 22.04.2013

 English version: Technical Physics, 2013, 58:11, 1619–1624

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