Materials based on bismuth and antimony chalcogenides for thermoelectric cooler stages

To enhance the efficiency of multistage thermoelectric coolers, extruded materials based on p- and n-type solid solutions of bismuth and antimony chalcogenides have been optimized for particular temperatures in the range 100–300 K. We have studied the effect of selenium doping on the thermoelectric efficiency of the p-type materials. We have fabricated pilot micromodules and compared calculated and experimentally determined characteristics (maximum temperature difference and thermoelectric figure of merit) of the modules in the range 100–300 K.