A coating liquid includes aluminum phosphate, a nonionic surfactant, and water and/or water-soluble solvent that dissolves or disperses the aluminum phosphate and the nonionic surfactant. An amount of the nonionic surfactant is preferably 1 vol % or more and 10 vol % or less. The nonionic surfactant is preferably at least one selected from the group consisting of ester, ether, alkylglycoside, octylphenol ethoxylate, pyrrolidone, and polyhydric alcohol. Applying such a coating liquid to a surface of a thermoelectric member, and drying and firing the coating liquid enables formation of a dense antioxidant film containing aluminum phosphate on the surface of the thermoelectric member.

A low-power phase-change memory (PCM) technology with interfacial thermoelectric heating (TEH) enhancement is provided. Embodiments described herein leverage a substantial, positive thermoelectric coefficient in PCM materials to generate additional heating or cooling at an interface with another material, enabling memory switching with a large reduction in current and power. Interfacial thermoelectric engineering is applied to a PCM cell using a special class of thermoelectric materials with large negative Seebeck coefficients (e.g., bismuth telluride (Bi.sub.2Te.sub.3), lead telluride (PbTe), lanthanum telluride (La.sub.3Te.sub.4), indium selenide (InSe), silicon-germanium (Si.sub.0.8Ge.sub.0.2)) to induce efficient heating at significantly lowered power and current.

A fast-rate thermoelectric device control system includes a fast-rate thermoelectric device, a sensor, and a controller. The fast-rate thermoelectric device includes a thermoelectric actuator array disposed on a wafer, and the thermoelectric actuator array includes a thin-film thermoelectric (TFTE) actuator that generates a heating and/or a cooling effect in response to an electrical current. The sensor is configured to measure a temperature associated with the heating or cooling effect and output a feedback signal indicative of the measured temperature. The controller is in communication with the fast-rate thermoelectric device and the sensor, and is configured to control the electrical current based on the feedback signal.

A thermoelectric device can comprise at least one first thermoelectric element, at least one second thermoelectric element, and a bridging structure. The bridging structure can include a bridging layer comprising a silver-gallium alloy. The silver-gallium alloy containing a bridging layer can provide flexibility and stress release to the thermoelectric device when subjected to multiple heating cycles, and may have a very low electrical resistance and thermal resistance.

An induction heating system can comprise a furnace chamber comprising a non-magnetic and non-conductive furnace wall; at least one induction heating coil surrounding an outer side of the furnace wall in a length direction (z) of the furnace chamber; and a holding and pressing construction. The holding and pressing construction can be designed to hold an arrangement to be placed within the furnace chamber, and the holding and pressing construction can apply a pressure on a proximal end and a distal end of the arrangement in the length direction of the chamber.

A flexible thermoelectric device that includes a plurality of pairs of semiconducting legs. The pair of semiconducting legs includes an n-type thermoelectric leg and a p-type thermoelectric leg. The pairs of thermoelectric legs are positioned between two substrates and are electrically connected in series in an alternating sequence between n-type and p-type legs. Both the n-type legs and the p-type legs are made from a binder containing semiconducting materials/particles that give the legs their n-type and p-type properties, respectively. The n-type and p-type legs are directly bonded with an electrode on one of the substrates by the binder. The flexible thermoelectric device nay be fabricated by contacting the electrode with the n-type and p-type legs and curing the binder.

The present invention is to provide a method of producing a thermoelectric conversion device having a thermoelectric element layer with excellent shape controllability and capable of being highly integrated. The present invention relates to a method of producing a thermoelectric conversion device including a thermoelectric element layer formed of a thermoelectric semiconductor composition containing a thermoelectric semiconductor material on a substrate, the method including a step of providing a pattern frame having openings on a substrate; a step of filling the thermoelectric semiconductor composition in the openings; a step of drying the thermoelectric semiconductor composition filled in the openings, to form a thermoelectric element layer; and a step of releasing the pattern frame from the substrate.

A thermoelectric conversion material is a polycrystalline material composed of a plurality of crystal grains and has a composition represented by formula (I): Mg.sub.3+mSb.sub.aBi.sub.2−a−cA.sub.c. In the formula (I), A is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Se and Te, the value of m is greater than or equal to 0.01 and less than or equal to 0.5, the value of a is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1.0, and the value of c is greater than or equal to 0.001 and less than or equal to 0.06. The thermoelectric conversion material has an Mg-rich region.

A thermoelectric conversion material contains a matrix composed of a semiconductor and nanoparticles disposed in the matrix, and the nanoparticles have a lattice constant distribution Δd/d of 0.0055 or more.

A thermoelectric device is disclosed. The thermoelectric device comprises: a body part comprising a hollow in which a semiconductor device is disposed; a plurality of connecting parts protruding on the lateral sides of the body part and comprising connecting holes; and a plurality of electrode parts connected to the semiconductor device and extending to the connecting holes of the connecting parts.