A Cool Concept
If the people at
Research Triangle Institute
have their way, you might just be able to have your cake and eat it too, at least
when it comes to keeping ICs cool. A prototype semiconductor thermoelectric device
has been developed that is many times more efficient at cooling that anything that
has preceded it. Their array cools a small block of steel by 15 °F in 2 minutes.
It works in reverse, too; that is to say it generates electric current when exposed
to heat. Imagine mating this device to a cell phone PA and having it boost efficiency
by both keeping it cool and feeding the heat-generated current back to the bias
circuits. Visions of grandeur by the inventors foretell of the eventual replacement
of conventional refrigerators and air conditioners. No time line has been proposed,
however. |