Power enhancement of micro thermoelectric generators by microfluidic heat transfer packaging

This paper reports on the design, fabrication and proof of concept of a multilayer fluidic packaging system enabling an increase in the output power performance of micro thermoelectric generators (mu TEGs). The complete integration of the microfluidic heat transfer system (mu HTS) with a mu TEG is successfully demonstrated. The fabricated prototype is characterized with respect to its thermal and hydrodynamic performance as well as the generated output power. At a very low pumping power of 0.073 mW/cm(2), a heat transfer resistance of 0.74 cm(2) K/W is reached. The assembled device generated up to 1.47 mW/cm(2) at an applied temperature difference of 50K and a fluid flow rate of 0.1 l/mm. Further system improvements and the potential of the proposed packaging approach are discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.