Thermal and thermal stress analysis of a thin-film thermoelectric cooler under the influence of the Thomson effect

This work has two parts. The first part details the thermal analysis of a thin-film thermoelectric cooler under the influence of the Thomson effect, the Joule heating, and the Fourier's heat conduction. A constant Thomson coefficient, instead of traditionally a constant Seebeck coefficient, is assumed. The influence of the Thomson effect on the cooling power, maximum temperature difference and optimum current density is then explored. A modified thermal conductance and a modified electric resistance are resulted due to the Thomson effect. The second part of this paper performs the analysis of the thermal stresses induced by the temperature differences created by the TE cooler via a non-coupled thermal elastic theory. The results provide a preliminary knowledge to judge whether the thin-film structures fail due to the thermal stresses, especially due to the shear stresses in between two adjacent layers.

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