Patent ID: 7084502

Claim:
A microelectromechanical device comprising at least one thermoelectric layer on a substrate, wherein a thermal expansion coefficient of said at least one thermoelectric layer differs greatly from a thermal expansion coefficient of the substrate, wherein said at least one thermoelectric layer is coupled to at least one stress reduction means for the targeted reduction of lateral mechanical stresses present in the layer, wherein at least one stress reduction means is arranged between regions of at least one of a functional structure and a region with a thermoelectric layer, and wherein the stress reduction means comprises at least one of: (a) an antiadhesion layer for reducing or preventing the adhesion of material of the layer and thus for forming at least one stress reduction means, (b) a vertical offset between two laterally adjoining layers is arranged as said stress reduction means in at least one region on the substrate, and (c) at least one trench is arranged as said stress reduction means in at least one region of the substrate.