Patent ID: 9543492
Date: 2017-01-10
CPC Classifications: H01L

Claim:
1. A thermoelectric element, comprising: a body formed of a single thermoelectric material and extending in a first direction along a central axis of the body in which a thermal gradient is established in thermoelectric operation, wherein the body has a first section, a second section, and a third section, each of the first section, the second section, and the third section sharing the same central axis as the central axis of the body, the first section and the second section being directly adjacent sections in the first direction and the second section and the third section being directly adjacent sections in the first direction, the first section, the second section, and the third section formed from only the single thermoelectric material, the first section and the third section have the same constant cross-sectional diameter in each of both directions perpendicular to the first direction, different from the cross sectional diameter of the second section in both directions perpendicular to the first direction and smaller than the cross-sectional diameter of the second section, and each of the sections has a length in the first direction in a range of about 1 to 1000 nanometers (nm).