Thermoelectric MEMS Coolers

C. Hilbert, R. Nelson, J. Reed, B. Lunceford, A. Somadder, K. Hu

Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC)
3500 West Balcones Center Drive, Austin, Texas 78759
hilbert@,mcc.com

U. Ghoshal
IBM Austin Research Laboratory, Austin, TX 78758
ghoshal@us.ibm.com

Abstract
To date the advantages of solid-state coolers such as high
reliability, low-mechanical noise, and localized temperature
control have often been negated by their inefficiency and the
frequent need for multiple stages to achieve the desired
temperature difference. While recent research on novel
materials and low-dimensional structures raises the hope for
improved performance, additional innovations are required to
make solid-state cooling competitive. MCC is developing a
novel implementation and operational paradigm for solid-
state coolers based on transient operation of thermoelectric
(TE) coolers and micro-electro-mechanical switch (MEMS)
technology. Application of a short transient pulse on top of a
steady state bias to a correctly designed TE cooler results in a
temporary additional temperature drop. MEMS switches can
exploit this effect by providing a thermal switch between the
cold end of the TE cooler and the device to be cooled, only
connecting them during repeated transient pulses. The
objective of this contract is to demonstrate the feasibility of
the TE MEMS cooler concept by fabricating a prototype and
achieving a cold temperature lower than the one achievable
by steady-state operation of a thermoelectric cooler. In this
presentation we will describe the general concept and report
on the progress made to date.
Introduction
Detector/sensor performance and signal processing benefit
significantly from reduced temperature operation. Solid-state
coolers provide this benefit while offering the advantages of
high reliability, low mechanical noise, and localized cooling.
Furthermore, thermoelectric cooling enables the system
designer to tightly control the device temperature to a specific
value or range over varying power dissipation levels by using
active sensing and feedback.
In detector and sensor applications such as the thermal
management of charge-coupled devices (CCDs), infrared
detectors and imaging sensors, low-noise amplifiers and
temperature stabilization of laser diodes and optoelectronic
circuits, improved thermoelectric coolers will provide
operating efficiencies and achieve lower temperatures with a
single thermoelectric stage. In these spot cooling
applications the maximum temperature differential that can be
achieved is frequently one of the most important parameters.
Military systems such as electronic warfare and radar will
benefit from more advanced and reliable coolers in a variety
of instruments.
In digital processing increasing circuit performance by
continuing the CMOS device scaling (Moores law) is
becoming increasingly cost prohibitive. Improved solid-state
cooling methods will enable higher power dissipation at the
device level for a given junction temperature or lower
operating temperatures at a given power level.
To date however, the advantages of solid-state coolers
have often been negated by their inefficiency (low coefficient
of performance) and the frequent need for multiple stages to
achieve the desired temperature difference. While recent
research on novel materials and low-dimensional structures
raises the hope for improved performance, additional
innovations are required to make solid-state cooling
competitive.
This effort investigates a novel mode for thermoelectric
coolers in order to increase their performance. The proposed
approach combines pulsed operation of thermoelectric (TE)
coolers, and micro-electro-mechanical switch (MEMS)
technology. The thermoelectric MEMS cooler concept was
first proposed by Dr. Uttam Ghoshal of IBM [l].
Technical Concept
The cooling performance of thermoelectric materials is
determined by the dimensionless figure of merit ZT defined
by the relation [2]:
Z=S201h (1)
where S is the Seebeck coefficient, (J is the electrical
conductivity, and h is the thermal conductivity. This figure of
merit directly impacts both the minimum temperature that can
be achieved at the cold end of the thermoelectric junction and
the efficiency (i.e. coefficient of performance) of the cooler.
Unfortunately materials with a large Seebeck coefficient,
high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity are
difficult to find. Among traditional thermoelectric materials
doped semiconductors based on bismuth telluride have one of
the best performances with the figure of merit ZT close to I at
room temperature. The drive to increase ZT has been
hampered by the difficulty of increasing the electrical
conductivity (J without increasing the thermal conductivity of
the material, or reducing the thermal conductivity without
affecting the electrical conductivity, all while maintaining a
high Seebeck coefficient.

0-7803-5451-6/00/$10.0002000 IEEE 117 18th International Conference on Thermoelectrics (1999)

 The amount of heat Q moved by a TE cooler in the
conventional steady-state operation is given by [2]:
Q = S I T, - 1/2 12R- KAT (2)
where I is the operating current, T, is the cold junction
temperature, R is the electrical resistance, K is the thermal
conductance and AT is the temperature difference across the
thermoelectric elements. The first term represents the Peltier
cooling effect, the second term the Joule heating due to the
resistive losses and the last term represents the amount of heat
leaking back from the hot to the cold side due to the finite
thermal conductance of the material. The performance
limitations in this regime are well established.
The general conclusions for the steady-state operation of
TE coolers are however not applicable to the transient
operation of TE coolers with short current pulses. A flurry of
activity occurred during the 1960s and 1970s when
researchers investigated the behavior of thermoelectric
junctions under pulsed operation [3-81. Theoretical
calculations as well as experimental verification demonstrated
that, if pulsed with a short duration current (on the order of
10-100 ms), the initial cooling effect much exceeds the
performance in steady-state operation. Landecker, Idnurm
and Findlay [6,7] observed temperature differences (AT)
across a single stage in excess of lOOK lasting for up to 100
ms after the completion of the current pulse. The reason for
the short term excess cooling is that the Peltier effect is a fast
electronic effect and depends only on the electrical time
constant, while the backflow of Joule heating and the thermal
leakage into the cold reservoir are dependent on the thermal
time constants. The results are dependent on the current pulse
shape as well as its duration.
The development of micro-electro-mechanical systems
(MEMS) over the past decade now enables us to exploit the
temporary excess cooling o f thermoelectric junctions by
pulsed bias currents below the steady-state temperature. This
can be achieved by combining the TE cooler with fast,
miniaturized, thermally conductive switches. These switches
periodically connect the cold end of the Peltier junction to the
cold plate only during (and a short time period after) the
applied current pulse. Between current pulses the contact is
opened in order to prevent the Joule and leak-back heat from
reaching the cold plate.
The basic TEIthermal switch configuration (Fig. 1)
includes one or more thermal switches in addition to the TE
elements. The TE couple is subjected to a current pulse and
the cooling action takes place while the thermal switch is
closed. However, before the Joule and/or the Fourier heat can
flow toward the cold reservoir, the switch is opened, and the
current returns to its optimum steady-state operation value,
thus facilitating the return to equilibrium of the TE element at
TC.
The design, number and operation of the MEMS switches
will affect the performance of the thermoelectric MEMS
cooler. The parameters need to be optimized through
modeling and experimental measurements.
118
Figure 1: Illustration of technical approach: The thermal
switches connect the cold plate to the TE couple only
at the time of the current pulse when the temperature
on the TE couple is the lowest.
Work at MCC to date has focused on investigating the
transient effect for TE coolers, the development of thermal
MEMS switches and thermo-mechanical system modeling.
Transient Operation of TE coolers
Transient TE measurements were undertaken both at MCC
and at IBM. The experiments used different geometries and
measurements techniques. Whereas the original work by
Landecker et al. [6,7] used the intrinsic Seebeck voltage of
the tested p-n junction to derive the temperature, the present
effort used external temperature sensors in order to obtain
unambiguous results.
MCC used a standard thermocouple wire soldered or
glued to the p-n cooler junction to monitor the temperature as
a fimction of time. Several geometrical configurations were
used: (a) a Pi-configuration and (b) a butt configuration as
shown in Figure 2. In both cases a 18pm-thick copper tab
was soldered in between the p- and n-elements.
Copper bus at cold end with
thermocouple attache
, T i Copper tabs for current input
(a) Pi configuration (b) Butt configuration
Figure 2: p-n junction configurations
In each case the thermoelectric elements and the copper
bus at the cold end are free standing, subject only to
convection, condensation and radiation thermal loads. The
copper current input tabs at the hot ends are adhesively
supported on a glass slide and provide the steady state heat
dissipation capability for the system through convection and
radiation. The exposed heat transfer area of each tab is about
4 square centimeters. These tabs also provide the transient
heat dissipation by virtue of their mass and thermal
diffhsivity .
The thermoelectric stacks are constructed using bismuth
telluride n- and p-elements provided by Marlow Industries.
18th International Conference on Thermoelectrics (1999)
 ~
These are lmm x lmm x 5mm long and have eutectic solder
deposited on each end for assembly. The bus bar temperature
is measured by a thermocouple composed of 0.127mm
diameter copper and constantan wires which is also soldered
to the bus bar. Figure 3 shows one of the set-ups used for
transient measurements.
Figure 3: Photograph of transient thermoelectric test stack
in double Pi configuration.
Figure 4(a) shows a typical result obtained with a butt
joint configuration (Figure 2(b) in air. In this picture a
current pulse of about 4A amplitude and 250ms duration is
superposed on top of a steady-state bias current of about 1A.
The current pulse initially lowers the temperature at the cold
junction. As the pulse continues, a mimimum temperature is
reached after which the temperature starts rising due to the
unavoidable Joule heating. The pulse length, shape and
amplitude needs to be optimized to yield optimal cooling.
Operating the thermoelectricjunctions in vacuum allows us to
obtain lower steady-state temperatures as well as deeper
transients. Tests with a double p-n configuration in vacuum
yielded a steady state temperature of -10C with an additional
transient temperature depression of up to 15C, compared to
approximate steady state values around zero degrees
centigrade and transients down to -6 C at ambient pressure.
IBM used a commercially available silicon diode to
monitor the cold and hot end temperatures of a test pair of
thermoelectric dp-type Bi,Te, elements provided also by
Marlow Industries. The geometry was a double PI
configuration similar to the one described in Figure 2(a). The
temperature sensors were Model DT-4 14-UN diodes from
Lakeshore in combination with a Model 321 Temperature
Controller. Figure 4(b) shows the response registered with a
pair of TE elements of approximate size lmm x lmm x 2mm.
The cooler is operated with a steady state current of 0.6 A
followed by an additional current step of 2A. The steady-
state cold end temperature is measured at 234K, then drops
temporarily to 204K upon application of the current step,
approximately a 50% increase in temperature differential
across the TE cooler.
119
Parrial vacuum
Cwnnc 0 6-2.6 A :Tc~npcrotwr:234-r:OJK ; Ambinc 294s
20 mi
Figure 4: Transient TE response: Oscilloscope traces of
TE current bias (top) and (cold end temperature
(bottom) versus time as a current step is applied.(a)
MCC configuration (b) IBM configuration.
MEMS Thermal Switches
MEMS manufacturing and processing capabilities have
developed to the extent where numerous options exist for a
basic miniaturized thermal switch design with the capability
of operating in the milli-second regime. In order to be
thermally effective, the MEMS switch needs to provide
excellent conduction in the closed state and good thermal
insulation in the open state. Figure 5 shows the switch
approach selected [9]. The metal switch is controlled by
application of a voltage differential between the MEMS beam
and the gate.
(a) Cross-section
MEMS
I Insuhing Substrule
(b) TopView
r- ~ I
Figure 5: Electro-statically actuated metal MEMS switch
design.
(a) Schematic cross-section of MEMS switch
(b) Top view of switch.
An electro-mechanical model was developed to determine
the trade-offs between various switch dimensions, actuation
voltages and contact force. The output from this modeling
effort helped guide the experimental work. We created both a
3D finite element model (FEM) within ANSYSTM and a
18th International Conference on Therrnoelectrics (1999)
closed-form analytical approximation. Figure 6 shows an
example of the FEM (a) and a typical output (b) of the
threshold voltage calculations.

(a) Electrical testing of the metal MEMS switches has

demonstrated excellent electrical conductivity. Closed switch
+-Gap=3 micron resistances as low as 0.232 have been achieved. Figure 9
-Pm r m
I-" I t
+Gap=l.C micron
I
shows a typical electrical resistance behavior versus applied
gate voltage.

40'

100 175 250 325 4W 475 550

Beam length (micron)

(b)
Figure 6: Finite element model (FEM) of MEMS switch.
(a) Meshed FEM structure;
(b) Computed threshold voltages for different beam
parameters.

Actuation voltages and contact forces can vary by an order

of magnitude depending on the selected configuration.
Agreement between experiment and model prediction
typically was within +/-20%, the major unknown being the
material properties of the various thin metal films.
In order to produce thermal switches MCC developed
process technology to fabricate all-gold switches on insulating
glass substrates. Figure 7 shows an optical photograph of a
metal MEMS switch. Figure 8 shows a scanning electron
micrograph (SEM) of another switch. Switch length can be
varied from 50 to 500 pm. Measured actuation voltages
range from 20 to 200 V.
Figure 7: Optical photograph of electrostatic MEMS switch
(top view)
0 40 20 Y) 40 50 W 70 0 So
Voltage M
Figure 9: Typical plot of electrical resistance of gold
MEMS switch versus applied voltage
The graph depicts a 4-wire resistance measured across the
whole device (including contact, beam and anchor) versus
voltage applied to the gate. The resistance value shown for the
open state is the maximum resistance limit of the digital
multi-meter used in the measurement. The hysteresis
observed in these voltage sweeps is largely due to the reduced
gate-to-beam gap after the switch closes, thus requiring a
lower actuation voltage to maintain the beam in the closed
position.
These data show the potential that metal MEMS switches
hold also as thermal switches. However, experimental
characterization of the thermal conductance of gold switches
on polyimide covered glass demonstrated that the glass
substrate produced excessive leakage in the open switch state.
Further development work is presently underway to reduce
this parasitic heat conduction path by removal of the glass
substrate.
Thermal System Model
A prototype thermoelectric MEMS cooler concept is
shown in Figure 10. The device to be cooled is located at the
center of the cooler. It is connected to the cold end of a series
of p-n thermoelectric coolers via an array of miniature
thermal MEMS switches.

120 18th InternationalConference on Thermoelectrics(1999)

 Current bias I(t): the pulse ends, if the MEMS switch (array) is opened. This is
demonstrated by the departure of the corresponding
temperature trace from the remainder of the curve family.
This particular modeling run assumes that the glass substrate
has been removed from underneath the cold region, leaving
only the polyimide insulation layer, in order to reduce the
thermal mass to be cooled and the thermal leakage across the
open MEMS switch(es).

Figure 10: Schematic representation of prototype cooler

implementation. (Not to scale) The thermoelectric
elements are electrically in series and thermally in
parallel as in traditional coolers. Multiple MEMS
switches will be used to increase the thermal
conductivity and reliability. (The figure only shows 4
switches for simplicity's sake.)

We developed a thermal system model in order to

determine the effects of various system parameters such as
structural dimensions and material properties on the thermal
system performance, and thereby to understand the system
engineering challenges. The 3D thermal system model was
constructed within ANSYSTM and is shown in Figure 11. It
assumes a symmetrical system with 2 TE pairs, a simple
(b)
ramped current pulse in addition to a steady-state bias current,
temperature dependent Seebeck and resistivity coefficients. Figure 11: Graphs of ANSYS model of TE MEMS cooler
Neither the TE element dimensions nor the current pulse system. The model represents a quarter of a complete
assembly with 4 TE elements and has been reduced by
shape have yet been optimized for maximum transient effect. symmetry. The heat sink is at the top, the substrate is
The initial effort was focused on understanding the thermal at the bottom: (a) Complete model with temperatures
performance as a fbnction of system design for a given TE in the TE element; (b) Magnified view of MEMS
configuration and operating condition. region with themperatures at cold end of TE cooler
Figure 11 shows both the complete model for a particular
TE element geometry (reduced by symmetry considerations)
and a magnified view of the cold end including a MEMS
switch.
Various switch geometries and substrate configurations
were analyzed. Figure 12 plots the temperature at various
locations in the cooler versus time. The model assumes a
steady-state temperature equilibrium at the start, then a
current pulse is ramped up until the time 0.1s at which instant
the current pulse is reduced back to zero and the MEMS
switch opened. The temperature traces show how the system
is cooling down upon application of the current pulse until the
time when the pulse ends. All locations located near the cold
end of the TE element track fairly well if the system is
engineered to provide maximum conductance. When the
current pulse is stopped, the increased Joule heat starts to
catch up, reach the cold end and starts to raise the temperature Figure 12: Temperature at various locations in the TE
back above the equilibrium temperature. However, as shown MEMS cooler system versus time. A current pulse is
by the FEM model, the cold plate at the end of the MEMS ramped up until the time 0. Is, then reduced to zero
switch can remain cold for a substantial amount of time after and the MEMS switch opened to isolate the central
cold plate from the cold end of the TE elements.

121 18th InternationalConference on Themoelectrics (1999)

 Even though unoptimized from a thermoelectric point-of- 5 . Stilbans, L. S . and Fedorovich, N. A., The Operation of
view, this system shows that a well-engineered system can Thermoelectric Elements in Non-Stationary Conditions,
take advantage of the transient thermal effect to produce Sov. Phys., Tech. Phys. Vo1.3 (1958), pp. 460-463.
lower temperatures. Figure 12 shows a temporarily increased 6. Landecker, K. and Findlay, A.W., Study of the Fast
cooling effect of about 10 degrees centigrade. In order to Transient Behavior of Peltier Junctions, Solid State
translate this transient benefit into an improved steady state Electronics, Vo1.3 (1961), pp. 239-260.
cooling system, the system needs to integrate multiple TE 7. Idnurm, M. and Landecker, K., Experiments with Peltier
element pairs. The TE pairs are pulsed sequentially so that, Junctions Pulsed with High Transient Currents, J. Appl.
while one pair is dissipating the Joule heat and returning to Phys., V01.34 (6) (1963), pp. 1806-1810.
steady-state equilibrium, the next pair is connected and 8. Babin, V. P. and Iordanishvili, E. K., Enhancement of
provides additional cooling to the cold plate. Thermoelectric Cooling in Nonstationary operation,
These models confirm the experimental measurements in Soviet Physics-Technical Physics, Vol. 14 (2) (1969), pp.
that they show that it is crucial to remove the glass substrate 293-298.
material underneath the cold MEMS region in order to 9. Zavracky, P.M., Majumder, S., and McGruer, N.E.,
maximize the benefits of the transient effect. Micromechanical Switches Fabricated Using Nickel
Conclusions Surface Micromachining, J. Microelectromechanical
We have demonstrated experimentally the two key Systems, Vo1.6 (1) (1997), pp.3-9.
components of the thermoelectric MEMS cooler concept: (1)
transient thermoelectric super-cooling, and (2) functional
metal MEMS switches for thermal switching. The miniature
switches are fabricated out of gold on insulating substrates in
order to yield low resistance in the closed state and low
thermal leakage in the open state. We also completed a
preliminary thermo-mechanical modeling and design study of
the thermoelectric cooler system which shows that a correctly
engineered thermoelectric MEMS system should be able to
achieve the lower temperatures. Work is proceeding towards
the development of a TE MEMS cooler prototype.
Acknowledgments
This work is being funded by DARPADSO and ONR
under Contracts #NO00 14-98-C-0167 and #NO00 14-99-C-
0299. We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Stu Wolf
(DARPA/DSO) and Dr. John Pazik (ONR) for their continued
support of the thermoelectric MEMS cooler work. We would
like to thank IBM for allowing MCC to pursue this concept.
We also would like to thank Dr. Hylan Lyon and Marlow
Industries who provided the custom-cut TE elements for this
work.
References
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122 18th International Conferenceon Thermoelectrics(1999)