Extreme Thin Peltier Modules Fabricated by the Printed Electronics Method

Extreme thin Peltier modules (total thickness of ca. 0.6 mm) were fabricated with printed thermoelectric elements instead of the conventional bulk elements. This module showed maximum temperature difference of about 40 °C and maximum heat absorption of 12 W with a standard module having 1.25 cm2 active area. This performance was comparable value to the Peltier module has a total thickness of 0.7 mm fabricated with commercially available bulk TE elements. Coefficient of performance of this module showed 1.0 when heat load at $T_{\mathrm{h}}=\mathrm{85}$ °C condition was about 2.0 ∼ 4.5 W and temperature difference was 15 °C. These results revealed the possibility of use of the extreme thin Peltier modules for the thermal management of the electronic devices.