Sumitomo Electric Industries, Limited

Toyota School Foundation

Kotaro Hirose

Masahiro Adachi

Yoshiyuki Yamamoto

Tsunehiro Takeuchi

Kyohei Kakuyama

Takashi Matsuura

Makoto Kiyama

Fuminori Mitsuhashi

Shunsuke Fujii

Shunsuke Nishino

An optical sensor includes a support film having a first main surface and a second main surface located opposite to the first main surface in a thickness direction; a thermoelectric-conversion material section disposed on the first main surface and including a plurality of strip-shaped first material layers formed of SiGe having p-type conductivity and configured to convert thermal energy into electric energy, and a plurality of strip-shaped second material layers formed of SiGe having n-type conductivity and configured to convert thermal energy into electric energy; a heat sink disposed on the second main surface; and a light absorbing film disposed so as to form a temperature difference in each of the first material layers in longitudinal directions and each of the second material layers in longitudinal directions and configured to convert received light into thermal energy.

Optical sensor

A thermoelectric conversion material includes, a base material composed of SiGe, a first additive element functioning as a dopant, a second additive element different from the first additive element, and oxygen. The second additive element includes at least one of Mg, Ca, and Ti. A content ratio of the second additive element relative to the base material is 0.5 at % to 5 at %. In a rectangular area of a section of the base material, the rectangular area being selected such that a grain boundary intersects opposite sides of the rectangular area, a distribution of the second additive element and the oxygen has a positive correlation. A correlation coefficient of the correlation is in a range of 0.2 or more and less than 1.0.

Thermoelectric conversion material, thermoelectric conversion element, and thermoelectric conversion module

An optical sensor includes a support film, a thermoelectric conversion material portion, a heat sink, a light absorption film, a first electrode, and a second electrode. The thermoelectric conversion material portion includes a plurality of first material layers and a plurality of second material layers. The support film includes a first layer arranged on the heat sink side in a thickness direction and configured with a phononic structure having a large number of holes, and an insulating second layer arranged on the first layer and in contact with the thermoelectric conversion material portion.

A thermoelectric conversion element includes a first electrode, a thermoelectric conversion material portion configured to convert heat into electricity, an intermediate layer arranged on the thermoelectric conversion material portion, a conductive bonding material arranged in between the intermediate layer and the first electrode to bond the first electrode to the intermediate layer, and a second electrode connected to the thermoelectric conversion material portion. The intermediate layer includes a first layer arranged on the thermoelectric conversion material portion and containing a dopant, and a second layer arranged on the first layer and configured to suppress diffusion of elements. The intermediate layer has an interface resistivity of not less than 0.0001 mΩcmand not more than 0.5 mΩcm.

Thermoelectric conversion element, thermoelectric conversion module, and method of producing thermoelectric conversion element

An optical sensor includes a support and a thermoelectric-conversion material section including first material layers, second material layers, and a third material layer. Each of the first material layers may have a first region including a first end portion and a second region including a second end portion. Each of the second material layers may have a third region including a third end portion and a fourth region including a fourth end portion. The first region and the second region are electrically connected to the third region and the fourth region, respectively, such that the plurality of first material layers and the plurality of second material layers are alternately connected in series to each other. The third material layer is disposed between the first region and the third region.

Thermoelectric-conversion material element and optical sensor containing the same

A thermoelectric conversion material is represented by a composition formula AgSSe, where x has a value of greater than 0.01 and smaller than 0.6.

Thermoelectric conversion material, thermoelectric conversion element, thermoelectric conversion module, and optical sensor

A photosensor includes: a support; a thermoelectric conversion material section that is disposed on a first main surface of the support and that includes a plurality of first material layers each having an elongated shape, a plurality of second material layers each having electrical conductivity and an elongated shape, and an insulating film, the first material layers and the second material layers each being configured to convert thermal energy into electrical energy; a heat sink that is disposed on a second main surface of the support and along an outer edge of the support; a light-absorbing film that is disposed in a region surrounded by inner edges of the heat sink as viewed in a thickness direction of the support so as to form temperature differences on the first main surface of the support in longitudinal directions of the first material layers.

Photosensor

An optical sensor includes a support layer, a thermoelectric conversion material portion disposed on the support layer and including a strip-shaped first material layer that converts thermal energy into electrical energy and a strip-shaped second material layer that is electrically conductive, and a light absorbing film disposed on the thermoelectric conversion material portion to form a temperature difference in a longitudinal direction of the first material layer. The first material layer includes a first region and a second region. The second material layer includes a third region and a fourth region connected to the second region. The optical sensor further includes a first electrode electrically connected to the first region, and a second electrode disposed apart from the first electrode and electrically connected to the third region. The first material layer has a width, perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, of 0.1 μm or more.

A thermoelectric conversion material is constituted of a semiconductor that contains a constituent element and an additive element having a difference of 1 in the number of electrons in an outermost shell from the constituent element, the additive element having a concentration of not less than 0.01 at % and not more than 30 at %. The semiconductor has a microstructure including an amorphous phase and a granular crystal phase dispersed in the amorphous phase. The amorphous phase includes a first region in which the concentration of the additive element is a first concentration, and a second region in which the concentration of the additive element is a second concentration lower than the first concentration. The first concentration and the second concentration have a difference of not less than 15 at % and not more than 25 at % therebetween.

A thermoelectric conversion material is composed of a compound semiconductor including a plurality of base material elements, and includes: an amorphous phase; and crystal phases having an average grain size of more than or equal to 5 nm, each of the crystal phases being in a form of a grain. The plurality of base material elements include a specific base material element that causes an increase of a band gap by increasing a concentration of the specific base material element. An atomic concentration of the specific base material element included in the crystal phases with respect to a whole of the plurality of base material elements included in the crystal phases is higher than an atomic concentration of the specific base material element included in the compound semiconductor with respect to a whole of the plurality of base material elements included in the compound semiconductor.

Thermoelectric conversion material, thermoelectric conversion element, thermoelectric conversion module, optical sensor, and method for manufacturing thermoelectric conversion material

A thermoelectric conversion material includes: a base material that is a semiconductor composed of a base material element; a first additional element that is an element different from the base material element, has a vacant orbital in a d orbital or f orbital located internal to an outermost shell of the first additional element and forms a first additional level in a forbidden band of the base material; and a second additional element that is an element different from both of the base material element and the first additional element and forms a second additional level in the forbidden band of the base material. A difference is 1 between the number of electrons in an outermost shell of the second additional element and the number of electrons in at least one outermost shell of the base material element.

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Osaka, Japan

Kotaro Hirose