A fully automated measurement system for the characterization of micro thermoelectric devices near room temperature

Abstract:

In this work, we report the customized design and development of a fully automated measurement system to
characterize the temperature-dependent properties of microscale thermoelectric devices. The featured system
can characterize the devices up to a dimension of 8.79 × 8.79 mm2 in an atmospheric environment. Commercially
available bismuth telluride-based thermoelectric modules (both thermoelectric generator and thermoelectric
cooler) are used to validate the feasibility and accuracy of the developed system. Their performance data
is analysed and compared with the available manufacturer datasheet. The measured data from these devices are
found to be in good agreement with the anticipated values and showed an acceptable deviation of less than 4% in
the output performances. The developed setup is simple to operate and suitable for performance evaluation of
both macro and micro-thermoelectric devices. The system accurately reproduces application conditions the
module may be subjected to in a real-world environment.