Mobile phones and computers can overheat when they are used for a long time or when heavy duty software is running. Frequent heating of these devices may reduce their performance or life span - but a nanowire based device could significantly mitigate this issue.
In this project, a multifunctional device has been designed to cool down the system, while it is generating electricity from the heat. This device can also sense the temperature, so the system can automatically shut down if it exceeds the acceptable range.
The core structure of this nanowirebased device is made up of a metal hot plate and a silicon and metal cold plate wrapped by oxide and gates. An electronic gate is a mechanical, optical, or electronic system that performs a logical operation on an input signal. The varying voltage of the gates can form a tunable barrier in the middle of the nanowire.
As the temperature of the hot plate rises, the energy of electrons flowing from the hot side to the cold side increases. The surrounding temperature can be detected by knowing the required gate voltage to block electrons with certain energy. In case no gate voltage is applied to the gates, the device can cool the surrounding temperature and generate electricity from the heat.
This temperature sensing, nanowired device helps to keep computers and mobile phones cool and charged. It may also have a significant impact on future thermoelectric applications and phononics, which is the science of controlling heat conduction in systems.
