Imec

Panasonic Corporation

Imec Vzw

Stichting Imec Nederland

Vladimir Leonov

Paolo Fiorini

Chris Van Hoof

Hiroki Takeuchi

Sherif Sedky

Kris A Baert

In an electret elementincluding a substrate, an electrically-conductive electrode, and an electret layerincluding a first dielectric layerand a second dielectric layer, when electrical charge charged in the electret layeris negative, a bottom Ec of conductive band of the second dielectric layeris lower than a bottom Ec of the first dielectric layer, and when the electrical charge is positive, a top Ev of valence band of the second dielectric layeris higher than a top Ev of the first dielectric layer; and a concave portionis formed in a surface of the first dielectric layer; and the second dielectric layeris formed to cover the entire of the bottom faceand at least a part of the side wallof the concave portion.

Electret element and vibration power generating device using the same

A patterned electret structure () on a substrate () comprises a dielectric structure comprising at least one non-patterned dielectric layer (), and a charge pattern () in the dielectric structure and/or at a surface of a dielectric layer that is part of the dielectric structure and/or at an interface between dielectric layers that are part of the dielectric structure. By the presence of the non-patterned dielectric layer (), the influence of the presence of a conductive substrate () on the charges () of the electret structure () is alleviated, hence increasing the charge stability over time. Moreover, in embodiments of the present invention, the charge stability is substantially independent of the width (W, W, W) of the charge pattern. A method for manufacturing such patterned electret structure () is also provided.

Patterned electret structures and methods for manufacturing patterned electret structures

A method for manufacturing thermopile carrier chips comprises forming first type thermocouple legs and second type thermocouple legs on a first surface of a substrate and afterwards removing part of the substrate form a second surface opposite to the first surface, thereby forming a carrier frame from the substrate and at least partially releasing the thermocouple legs from the substrate, wherein the thermocouple legs are attached between parts of the carrier frame. First type thermocouple legs and second type thermocouple legs may be formed on the same substrate or on a separate substrate. In the latter approach both types of thermocouple legs may be optimised independently. The thermocouple legs may be self-supporting or they may be supported by a thin membrane layer. After mounting the thermopile carrier chips in a thermopile unit or in a thermoelectric generator, the sides of the carrier frame to which no thermocouple legs are attached are removed. A thermoelectric generator according to the present disclosure may be used for generating electrical power, for example for powering an electrical device such as a watch. It may be used with a heat source and/or heat sink with high thermal resistance, such as a human body.

Method for manufacturing a thermopile on a membrane and a membrane-less thermopile, the thermopile thus obtained and a thermoelectric generator comprising such thermopiles

A thermoelectric generator (TEG) and a method of fabricating the TEG are described. The TEG is designed so that parasitic thermal resistance of air and height of legs of thermocouples forming a thermopile can be varied and optimized independently. The TEG includes a micromachined thermopile sandwiched in between a hot and a cold plate and at least one spacer in between the thermopile and the hot and/or cold plate. The TEG fabrication includes fabricating the thermopiles, a rim, and the cold plate.

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Leuven, Belgium

Vladimir Leonov