Recent development of thermoelectric materials and micro-thermoelectric devices

Seebeck effect, Peltier effect and Thomson effect are the foundation of the thermoelectrics. According to these effects, many kinds of thermoelectric devices such as thermoelectric generators, Peltier coolers, thermoelectric sensors, and thermoelectric detectors are developed. Since micro electronic technology technique and MEMS technology were intro- duced to the fabrication of thermoelectric devices, the thermoelectric micro-devices have drawn more and more attention. The recent development and related results about the micro thermoelectric devices in American, Germany, and China were introduced .