This paper presents a low power boost converter for thermoelectric energy harvesting that demonstrates an efficiency that is 15% higher than the state-of-the-art for voltage conversion ratios above 20. This is achieved by utilizing a technique allowing synchronous rectification in the discontinuous conduction mode. A low-power method for input voltage monitoring is presented. The low input voltage requirements allow operation from a thermoelectric generator powered by body heat. The converter, fabricated in a 0.13 μm CMOS process, operates from input voltages ranging from 20 mV to 250 mV while supplying a regulated 1 V output. The converter consumes 1.6 (1.1) μW of quiescent power, delivers up to 25 (175) μW of output power, and is 46 (75)% efficient for a 20 mV and 100 mV input, respectively.

A 20 mV Input Boost Converter With Efficient Digital Control for Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting

Efficient on-chip hotspot removal combined solution of thermoelectric cooler and mini-channel heat sink

Numerical simulation on a compact thermoelectric cooler for the optimized design

conventional batteries duetoitswasteheatenergy harvesting capabilities. Itisespecially suited formanylow Significant developments haveoccurr edinthelast few .,,,,. ., . ~~~~~~power andportable electronics suchasforsupporting years intheareaofnanoscale thermoelectric materials using unwen and wirele ssdcesThrmoelectri superlattices andself-assembled quantum-dots. Thin-filmgnator' s oututvotae ssdirel prop leto thermoelectric (TB) devices employing these materials have temeratres diferncbltwe i rectly proportion alto beendeveloped formanyapplications including energy temperature difference between itS twojunctlons. Inmany harvestng. Thnf* TEdevics foa I mm ofcovre cases, theobtainable temperature difference canbeless than vesting. Thin-ilm tB device,foram of overt 2Kandtheoutput voltage ofathermoelectric generator can volutW/me 3, ilb an ,

EnergyHarvesting forElectronics withThermoelectric Devices using Nanoscale Materials

Thermo-mechanical analysis on a compact thermoelectric cooler

Super-lattice thin-film thermoelectric coolers (TEC) are emerging as a promising technology for hot spot mitigation in microprocessors. This paper studies the prospect of on-demand cooling with advanced TECs integrated at the back of the heat spreader inside a package (integrated TEC). The thermal compact models of the chip and package with integrated TECs are developed and used for steady-state and transient temperature analysis. The control principles for TEC assisted transient cooling are presented and their impact on reducing thermal violations in microprocessors and TEC energy dissipations are discussed.

Prospects of active cooling with integrated super-lattice based thin-film thermoelectric devices for mitigating hotspot challenges in microprocessors

3D Compact Model of Packaged Thermoelectric Coolers

Superlattice thin-film thermoelectric coolers (TECs) are emerging as a promising technology for hot spot mitigation in microprocessors. This paper studies the prospect of on-demand cooling with advanced TECs integrated at the back of the heat spreader inside a package (integrated TEC). Using thermal compact models of the chip and package with integrated TECs, the control principles for TEC-assisted transient cooling are presented. The control principles are implemented in a 130-nm CMOS process and cosimulated with the thermal system to show their feasibility and energy overheads. The simulation results show potential for extending the time for which a chip and package can sustain a high power load.

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Control principles and on-chip circuits for active cooling using integrated superlattice-based thin-film thermoelectric devices

Thermoelectric (TE) devices have shown promise for on-demand cooling of ICs. However, the additional energy required for cooling remains a challenge for the successful deployment of these devices. This paper presents a closed loop control system that dynamically switches a TE module between Peltier and Seebeck modes depending on chip temperature. The autonomous system harvests energy during regular operation and uses the harvested energy to cool during high power operation. The system is demonstrated using a commercial thin-film TE device, an integrated boost regulator and few off chip components. The feasibility of the integration of the TEM and the automated mode switching within the microprocessor package is also evaluated.

Energy efficient active cooling of integrated circuits using autonomous Peltier/Seebeck mode switching of a thermoelectric module

Hot spots on a microelectronic package can severely hurt the performance and long-term reliability of the chip. Thermoelectric coolers (TECs) have been shown to potentially provide efficient site-specific on-demand cooling of hot spots in microprocessors. TECs could lengthen the amount of time a processor is capable of running at full speed in the short-term and also provide long-term reliability by creating a more uniform temperature distribution across the chip. We have created a compact model for fast and accurate modeling of the TEC device integrated inside an electronic package. A 1-D compact model for TEC is first built in SPICE and has been validated for steady-state and transient behavior against a finite-volume model. The 1-D model of TEC was then incorporated into compact model of a prototype electronic package and simulations were performed to validate its steady state and transient behavior. This integrated compact model’s results are in good agreement with a finite volume based model developed for TECs integrated inside a package and confirmed the compact model’s ability to accurately model the TEC’s interaction with package. The compact model has relatively small error when compared to the finite-volume based model and obtains results in a fraction of the time, reducing run-time in a transient simulation by 430%. A simple controller was added to the electronic package and TEC model to provide an initial test of how the compact model can aid design of more complex control systems to efficiently operate the thermoelectric coolers.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

Borislav Alexandrov

Papers

Prospects of active cooling with integrated super-lattice based thin-film thermoelectric devices for mitigating hotspot challenges in microprocessors

3D Compact Model of Packaged Thermoelectric Coolers

Control principles and on-chip circuits for active cooling using integrated superlattice-based thin-film thermoelectric devices

Energy efficient active cooling of integrated circuits using autonomous Peltier/Seebeck mode switching of a thermoelectric module

Compact Model of Thermoelectric Coolers on a Micro-Electronic Chip