熱電マイクロジェネレーター

抄録

The studies on micro thermoelectric generators are reviewed in the present paper. The configuration of the devices is introduced for understanding the mechanism of thermoelectric generators. The fabrication processes and the output power of the micro thermoelectric generators are discussed. The developed micro-generator for wrist watch was made by mechanical machining in 1999, but the recent micro-generator was made by standard micro-fabrication processes, such as thin film deposition, etching, wafer bonding etc. The production costs will be also important for practical use of a thermoelectric micro-generator.