A practical thermoelectric leg for TECs with optimal current improvement

Abstract The maximum temperature difference, which is corresponding to the optimal current, is important for evaluating the performance of thermoelectric coolers (TECs). As a representative of the thermoelectric leg with non-constant cross-section, the pyramidal thermoelectric leg has more advantages than the traditional cuboidal thermoelectric leg due to the large temperature gradient. However, the fabrication is much complex. In this work, a new shaped thermoelectric leg for TECs with almost the same property with the pyramidal legs is proposed and a simple practical approach for fabrication by taking one-side cut from the cuboidal leg is presented. Optimal current improvement is demonstrated by the theoretical calculation and the finite element simulation as well as the test results.