New directions in thermoelectric and thermal-electric cooling

Conventional thermoelectric coolers have been widely used for cooling of electronic devices. Utilizing bismuth telluride materials, these Peltier modules are typically categorized as high heat flux devices that can achieve modest temperature differences in a compact architecture. Breaking from convention of typical bismuth telluride thermoelectric devices, an alternative method of providing thermal-electric cooling will be discussed providing inspiration for new cooling directions and materials challenges. While this approach has application in electric cooling of solids, there are also wider applications including space cooling and heat pumping.