Four-leg Ca0.95Sm0.05MnO3 unileg thermoelectric device

A prototype of oxide thermoelectric module only composed of n-legs Ca(0.95)Sm(0.05)MnO(3), so-called unileg device, has been fabricated. The electrical and thermal measurements have been investigated at high temperature in air. In this non conventional configuration, the pellets are thermally connected in parallel, electrically in series, and linked by silver strips. The system has been characterized under large temperature difference (Delta T=360 K) using a homemade system, allowing to record simultaneously the electrical and thermal parameters of the working device. An open circuit voltage of 260 mV was obtained for a four-leg "unileg" module. The module exhibits an internal resistance of 1.09 Omega. The maximum power output for this four-leg device reached 16 mW in these working conditions. The manufacturing quality is discussed, according to the electric contact resistance values, and the reliability of the thermoelectric device is reported. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.