Patent ID: 6444894
Filing Date: 2002-09-03
Classification: C04B,H01L

Abstract:
A thermoelectric generator comprising a p-doped or n-doped semiconductor material, wherein said semiconductor material is at least one ternary material selected from one of the following substance classes and formed by combining at least 2 compounds of the substance class:(1) Silicides U3Si5, BaSi2, CeSi2, GdSi, NdSi2, CoSi, CoSi2, CrSi2, FeSi, FeSi2, MnSi, MoSi2, WSi2, VSi, TiSi2, ZrSi2, VSi2, NbSi2 and TaSi2 (2) Borides UB2, UB4, UB12, CeB6, AlB12, CoB, CrB2, CrB4, FeB, MnB, MnB2, MnB12, MoB, MoB4, SiB4, SiB6, SiB12, TiB2, VB2, YB4, ZrB2, CuB24, NiB12, BaB6, MgB2, MgB4 and MgB12, where the aluminum-containing borides may additionally contain one carbon atom per boron atom, (3) Germanides U5Ge3, BaGe, GdGe, Dy5Ge3, Fr5Ge3 and Ce3Ge5 (4) Tellurides, sulfides and selenides LaS, NdS, Pr2S3, DyS, USe, BaSe, GdSe, LaSe, Nd3Se4, Nd2Se3, PrSe, FrSe, UTe, GdTe, LaTe, NdTe, PrTe, SmTe, DyTe and ErTe (5) Antimonides USb, CeSb, GdSb, LaSb, NdSb, PrSb, DySb, AlSb, CeSb, CrSb, FeSb, Mg3Sb2, Ni5Sb2, CeSb3 and NiSb3 (6) Plumbides CePb, Gd5Pb3, La5Pb3 and Dy5Pb4, where, in the substance classes (1) to (6), up to 10 atom % of the elements may be replaced by Na, K, Rb, Cs, Zn, Cd, Al, Ga, Zr, Mg, S, Cu, Ag, Au, Ti, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Re, Fe, Co, Ni or mixtures thereof, providing they are not already present in the combinations,(7) Semiconductor oxides UO2, Bi2O3, CuO, Cu2O, SnO, PbO, ZnO, In2O3, WO3, V2O5, Sb2O3, CoO, NiO, Ce2O4, FeO, Fe2O3, NbO2, CeO2 and BaO, where up to 10 mol % of the oxides may be replaced by Na2O, K2O, CdO, SrO, Al2O3, Ga2O3, Cr2O3 or mixtures thereof, andwherein ternary suicides formed by combining CrSi2 and FeSi2 are of formulaCrxFe1âˆ’xSi1+x wherein x is from 0.01 to 0.99.