Mathematical model and optimization of a thin-film thermoelectric generator

The thriving of the Internet of Things is set to increase the demand for low-power wireless sensing devices. Thin-film thermoelectric generators are ideal as a sustainable power source for Internet of Things devices as they allow for low maintenance and energy autonomy. This work presents a model to estimate the performance of a thin-film thermoelectric generator. Verified by finite-element method simulation, the results from the model show that increasing the interconnect electrical conductivity and reducing the device pitch increases the power density. The power density can also be increased by increasing the fill factor and reducing the thermal conductivity of the insulating materials. A new corrugated thin-film thermoelectric generator design is proposed in this work that allows for higher fill factors than conventional square designs where a limit on the minimum feature size is imposed, as is the case with photolithography.