Principles of charge and heat transport in thermionic devices

Ben C. Lough; Roger A. Lewis; Chao Zhang

doi:10.1117/12.582101

28 February 2005 Principles of charge and heat transport in thermionic devices

Ben C. Lough, Roger A. Lewis, Chao Zhang

Proceedings Volume 5649, Smart Structures, Devices, and Systems II; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.582101
Event: Smart Materials, Nano-, and Micro-Smart Systems, 2004, Sydney, Australia

Abstract

We enunciate the general principles that govern the transport of charge and heat in a thermionic device. We illustrate the application of these principles to the subject of domestic refrigeration. A complementary application is power generation. We distinguish Class 2 devices, in which the potential barrier on the hot side plays a role, from Class 1 devices, in which this barrier is irrelevant. We show that the effect of heat backflow is to drastically reduce the efficiency of thermionic devices in both GaAs and InSb representative semiconductor systems. We conclude that practical devices are not likely with bulk, single-barrier devices.

Citation Download Citation

Ben C. Lough, Roger A. Lewis, and Chao Zhang "Principles of charge and heat transport in thermionic devices", Proc. SPIE 5649, Smart Structures, Devices, and Systems II, (28 February 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.582101

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