Patent ID: 6958443

Claim:
A foil segment for a thermoelectric generator, the foil segment comprising: a substrate having opposing front and back substrate surfaces; and a series of elongate alternating n-type and p-type thermoelectric legs disposed in spaced parallel arrangement on the front substrate surface, each of the n-type and p-type legs being formed of a Bi 2 Te 3 -type thermoelectric material having a thickness in the range of from about 5 microns to about 100 microns, each n-type and p-type thermoelectric leg having a width and a length, the width being in the range of from about 10 microns to about 100 microns, the length being in the range of from about 100 microns to about 500 microns; wherein: each one of the p-type thermoelectric legs is electrically connected to an adjacent one of the n-type thermoelectric legs at opposite ends of the p-type thermoelectric legs such that the series of n-type and p-type thermoelectric legs are electrically connected in series and thermally connected in parallel; the Bi 2 Te 3 -type thermoelectric material for the p-type thermoelectric legs being a semiconductor compound having the following formula: (Bi 0.15 Sb 0.85 ) 2 Te 3 plus about 10 at % Te excess to about 30 at % Te excess.