XVth
International Conference on Thermoelectrics ICT96
March 1996
Pasadena,
California, USA
Volume 8, Number 1
XVth
International Conference on Thermoelectrics ICT96
March 1996
Pasadena,
California, USA
| by Jean-Pierre Fleurial The XVth International Conference on Thermoelectrics, ICT96, was held at the DoubleTree Hotel, Pasadena, California, USA, March 26- 29, 1996. On the day preceding the conference, two half-day short courses were arranged. The conference was organized by the Thermoelectrics Team of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology (JPL). The conference was supported by the International Thermoelectric Society (ITS), a non-profit organization, and sponsored by the US Office of Naval Research and the Department of Energy. Short Courses, SCTs-96 The last short course on thermoelectrics, SCT-93, was held in Yokohama, Japan, in 1993 and was associated with the XII International Conference on Thermoelectrics. SCT-93 provided the course attendees with a broad overview of thermoelectrics, including the basic physics and thermodynamics, materials research and development, and devices and applications. The short courses associated with ICT96, SCTs-96, used a different approach by focusing on two specific issues of interest to both scientists and engineers. SCTs-96 was organized in two half-day short courses of 3 hours each on Monday, March 25, 1996 and gave a good perspective to 60 US and overseas participants on the requirements and pitfalls in TE measurements and in designing TE devices for power generation or cooling. The first short course of SCTs-96 covered the measurement of the thermal and electrical transport properties of bulk and thin film TE materials. The lecturers, Lee |
ICT96 Exhibitors ASARCO
Inc. Cryotherm
Ltd. Crystal,
Ltd. Hi-Z
Technology, Inc. Institute of Thermoelectricity Chernivtsi, UKRAINE Inter.
Thermoelectric Inc. Marlow
Industries, Inc. Melcor
Corporation Midwest
Research Institute MMR
Technologies Inc. Noranda
Advanced Materials Quantum
Design TE
Technology, Inc. |
Danielson (Lockheed-Martin, USA) and David Cahill (University of Illinois, USA), described the various techniques available and compared their advantages, their drawbacks and the most common errors associated with the measurements. In the afternoon short course, Richard Ewell (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA) and Ed Burke (Marlow Industries, USA) reviewed the analysis and design of TE power generators and coolers. They provided the attendees with the tools necessary to understand the operation of TE devices and to calculate their performance for a given configuration and set of conditions. ICT96 Conference ICT96 featured technical sessions covering a broad range of topics in thermoelectrics R&D. The meeting provided a total of 190 scientists, engineers, manufacturers and users with a forum for the exchange of discussions and information at the forefront of thermoelectrics. This was the largest attendance for an ICT conference in
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ITS Newsletter
| the United States and it indicates that the interest in thermoelectrics is growing worldwide. The largest delegations were from the United States (97) and Japan (38). All major regions of the world were represented: Russia and Ukraine (17), Western Europe (20), Israel (1), Japan, Korea and Australia (47), North America (104) and even South Africa (1). A total of 110 papers were actually presented during parallel sessions at the conference. The parallel sessions were held in adjacent rooms at the DoubleTree hotel which allowed the attendees to easily switch from one room to the other. By organizing 10 invited presentations, the goal of the ICT96 Organizing Committee was to emphasize promising new approaches in thermoelectrics, such as novel materials and heterostructures (materials research) or thermal management and waste heat recovery applications (TE cooling and power generation). In addition, important topics which need more exposure were selected, such as thin films, Bi-Sb alloys, theoretical calculations (materials research) and detectors, microdevices and commercial potential (applications). Each invited speaker gave a comprehensive and critical review of his topic and explored new avenues for future expansion was in his allotted 30 minutes. A large number of regular papers were devoted to novel materials and structures, and several major discoveries were reported at this meeting. A more detailed overview of the technical and scientific program is given in the following article, the ICT96 Technical Program. Many attendees indicated that the quality of science presented at the meeting had improved very significantly. Rhoads Stephenson, the director of the JPL Technology Applications Program gave the introductory address, which was followed by the Plenary Session outlining the interest in thermoelectrics of several government agencies: Office of Naval Research, Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, Department of Energy (transportation), U.S. Army Research Office and NASA Johnson Space Center. This was the first time that such a general session was held at an ICT conference, and it generated a lot of interest from the audience. I hope that this experience will continue at one of the next ICT conferences, in the United States or overseas. In particular, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency officially announced a new 4 year $20-30 million program in thermoelectrics to start in FY97-98, which will undoubtedly give a boost to thermoelectric R&D in the United States. |
The 2 hour Panel Session held mid-point during the conference was well attended and there was a lot of interaction between the panelists and the audience. The topic was "Increase Demand for Thermoelectrics: High ZT or Cost the Driver" and the panel was composed of a mix of private industry, university and institution. In particular, it was stressed that efforts to increase the market for thermoelectrics must be better focused on current and possible users. Most of the speakers concurred with the opinion that major improvements in ZT are required to significantly expand the market in thermoelectrics, in particular for cooling applications. The enormous economic potential of TE power devices using waste heat recovery was also emphasized. A technical exhibition featuring the latest products from TE companies was arranged concurrently with the conference technical sessions. The technical Exhibition is always an important event at the annual International Conference on Thermoelectrics. It constituted an excellent opportunity for the developers and manufacturers of TE materials and devices to display their products and interact with the international mix of R&D experts attending the conference. For the ICT96 exhibition, the organizers were also pleased to host two companies involved in the setting-up and manufacturing of equipment for the measurement of electrical and thermal transport properties in the low to intermediate temperature range. According to the exhibitors, they had a lot of productive contacts with the attendees. In addition to the very full technical schedule of the conference, the ICT96 Organizing committee managed to keep the attendees busy and entertained during the evenings. A welcome reception was held at the DoubleTree hotel on Monday evening, March 25, and the buffet was attended by about 150 people. On Tuesday night, March 26, the attendees had a chance to experience one of Southern California's most exciting thrills: the "Streets of the World" entertainment and dinner at Universal Studios Hollywood. After enjoying a great ride in our local yellow school buses, the conferees boarded tramcars for a private tour of the Universal Studios backlot with fake earthquakes and dummy buildings. Then, they had to endure the trepidation of the "Back to the Future" ride before finally settling down at an outdoor buffet. The conference |
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ITS Newsletter
| banquet was held on March 27 at the DoubleTree hotel and after enjoying the Californian food and wine, Dr. Michael Rowe, ITS's new president gave a short speech. Dr. Armin Heinrich followed with his announcement of the next ICT conference to be held next September 1997 in Dresden, Germany. On the last day of the conference, March 28, the participants were invited to a farewell reception at the DoubleTree hotel. Dr. Michael Rowe presented Dr. Andrew Wagner of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA, with a plaque and an award of $500 for best conference paper for his article and presentation of his work on Bi2Te3 quantum wells. Finally, on Friday morning,, a visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was organized and more than 100 ICT96 attendees participated. After a look at the deep space activities at JPL, including the assembly room for the Radioisotope TE generator-powered Cassini spacecraft scheduled for launch in a short time, the conference attendees were given a tour of the Thermoelectric Laboratory. It appears that ICT96 was a success if the Organizing Committee can judge from the excellent feedback it has received from the attendees. As chairman of this conference, I am especially proud of the continuously improving quality of the ITS and I would like to thank the members of the Organizing Committee for their dedication and perseverance through many months of effort, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for its support and the Office of Naval Research and the Depart. of Energy for their sponsoring.
Dr. Michael D. Rowe presents Dr. T.C. Farmer with the Best Paper Award. |
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ITS Newsletter
| These results were also confirmed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA) at the conference on similar filled skutterudite compositions. The work on skutterudites seems to be particularly promising and several groups around the world are currently working on this family of materials. New results obtained on b-Zn4Sb3 hot-pressed samples by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA) group showed that ZT values up to 1.3 at 400°C can be obtained. We see more and more indications that the ZT barrier of 1 can be broken and improved TE materials can be developed. There is also promising work being conducted at Ames Laboratory (USA) and University of Virginia (USA) on Metal-Si-Sn alloys which seem to have attractive TE properties. Similar to the efforts on novel bulk TE materials, there is a significant effort to experimentally show that quantum wells and heterostructures have superior TE properties. The first indications of improved TE properties in quantum wells were reported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Research Triangle Institute. A. Wagner from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA) won the best paper award for his paper on (Bi1-xSbx)2(Te1-ySey)3 multilayer films. There were also several papers on thin films TE devices: Yonsei University group (Korea), Lawrence Livermore group (USA), and JPL group (USA). Several topics of increasing interest and importance were also selected for invited presentations: waste heat recovery , thermal management, detectors and sensors and applications for the automobile industry. In general, the quality of the science presented seems to be improving significantly. Also, the conference attracted some participants with various fields of expertise (crystal growth, thin-films, theory) and this is certainly a valuable addition to the TE community. Thermoelectricity, which started as a marginal physical science, is now becoming attractive to many scientists due to the diversity of expertise required. According to many attendees, the conference was a success and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the speakers, session chairpersons, and members of the Organizing Committee for their time and effort to make the ICT96 such a success. |
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The complete addresses of all board members are available on the new ITS Homepage (click here to go to the homepage).
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ITS Newsletter
| Editor's Corner Did you notice the "new look" for this ITS Newsletter? My assistant, Kandace Kalnbach, was mostly responsible for these innovations. If you don't like them, blame her. If you do like them, I'll take the credit! Seriously, please drop us an e-mail and let us know what you think… It seems to me that the ICT meetings get better and better with every meeting. I can remember back to the mid-1970's when Dr. Rao at the Univ. of Texas at Arlington, sponsored TE short courses. It was quite international but not much over 20 people attended each year. I suggested to Dr. Rao that he expand these short courses to technical seminars to encourage the sharing of more current technological ideas in the field of thermoelectrics. We have come a long way since then, but owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Rao who, with no personal gain for himself, put forth the energy and effort for the benefit of all of us.
Thermoelectrics was fiercely competitive even then (maybe especially then), and all of us were somewhat reluctant to share our secrets and, perhaps, lose some of our competitive advantage. However, once we climbed down from our respective "ivory towers" and broke through the "fear barrier," the entire TE industry began to advance more rapidly and all of us benefited. This spirit of sharing information for the common good has grown more and more with each new seminar and was certainly evident in ICT96. There has never been more excitement and optimism for thermoelectrics except, perhaps, for the "panacea period" of the late 50's - early 60's. We even have solicitations for multi-million dollar R&D programs! This new wave of excitement has me "cautiously optimistic" for the prospects of advancing the field of thermoelectrics. Cautious because I lived and participated in the "panacea period" and know how difficult it was to re-group following the realization that the hoped-for break-though was not to be. Thermoelectrics, Expectation and |
Optimism has always been a trilogy. But false hope and unfounded promises dealt us a blow from which it has taken nearly 40 years to reach that same level of enthusiasm. There was some discussion during the ICT96 panel session about the prospects for thermoelectrics if break-throughs were made in ZT. I have also participated in workshops in Washington, D.C., where the discussion was, "where should we set the goal for ZT: 3,4,7?" Set it high enough and the multi-million dollar R&D programs will go to the biggest liars! According to a recent world survey of the world's best TE cooling module manufacturers, the highest room-temperature ZT was 0.9. If we aim too high, we could miss the target altogether and spend the next few decades trying to establish credibility - AGAIN! Don't get me wrong, though. I am just as optimistic as any other thermoelectrician. I am excited (well, "cautiously excited") about the new possibilities that are emerging. Just remember, though, that it was not those who promised the most 30-40 years ago who got us to where we are. It was the hard work, dedication and commitment of companies like Melcor and Marlow who started when the entire industry had zero credibility and established a practical, economic and solid business base for the TE cooling industry from which we all now benefit. Let's build on the base that the current TE world leaders have generated. We do not need another panacea period. Academic progress is nice, but we don't need more "museum pieces." My optimism and expectations for thermoelectric break-through is one which has practical application, economic soundness and the elements needed for solid business success.
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ITS Newsletter
| President's
Letter Fellow ITS members. This is my first letter to you as president of ITS and I would like to take the opportunity to thank the International Board for electing me to this office. My predecessor Dr. Cronin B. Vining is a hard act to follow, but I will endeavor to build upon the solid foundations he laid during his Presidency. It is appropriate that, on behalf of the Society, I thank Cronin for his even-handed stewardship at Board meetings and his significant contribution in pointing the way in developing materials with improved TE performance. In addition, Cronin's enthusiasm and drive to ensure that the Society took advantage of the revolution in world communications was largely responsible for the establishment of the ITS page on the Internet which is so widely used by our members. The 15th ICT, held in Pasadena, CA, and sponsored by the JPL Thermoelectric Group, who organized the meeting, under the Chairmanship of J. P. Fleurial, are to be congratulated for an exceptionally well-run conference. The scope, diversity and standard of research activity reported, together with the impressive list of exhibitors, attests to the continued expansion of TE activities worldwide. The exhausting, conference program, with participants hurrying between parallel sessions, was in marked contrast to the leisurely evening social activities; the most memorable of which for me was the "Back to the Future" ride at Universal Studios. The occasion of the farewell party provided an opportunity for me to present "The Best Paper Award" to Dr. T. C. Farmer who presented the paper "Synthesis and evaluation of TE multilayer films" co-authored with T. W. Barbee Jr. A. V. Wagner, R. J. Foeman and L. J. Summers of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA, USA. In the five years since the conference was last organized by JPL and the chairmanship of Cronin Vining, the different programs and abstracts provide insight into the trends in thermoelectrics. Most striking is the change in the technology employed in materials research. In 1990, the application of the PIES method opened up exciting opportunities to make "unnatural alloys" whose constituents could perhaps be tailored to exhibit desirable TE properties. In 1996, although the objectives remain the same, bulk material preparation procedures employed in the |
quest for advanced materials have largely given way to high-tech electronic materials preparation techniques such as MBE and MOCVD to fabricate thin film structures which it is hoped will provide clues to achieving improved TE properties - eventually in bulk materials. An absence of any paper on this topic in the 1990 conference is to be compared with the three whole sessions in this year's conference devoted to "thin films and heterostructures" and "quantum-wells and superlattices." On a more general note, there is evidence from several sources, including Conference conversation, that there seems to be a move away from specialized space applications, which has provided much of the material development impetus over the past 20 years or so, to industrial, commercial and domestic applications, particularly in waste heat recovery where conversion efficiency is not a major consideration. Although this shift in TE generation activities was not reflected in the conference presentations, module manufacturers have sensed the "winds of change" and are already advertising the generating capabilities of products which were previously displayed as Peltier cooling devices. I believe that the use of commercially available "Peltier" modules in generating applications will increase dramatically over the next few years. Finally, it is very difficult to predict what innovations and advances in materials and applications we shall see before my term of office expires just before the start of the next millennium, but there are prospects of exciting developments in new TE materials, module construction and applications. However, from my perspective as a university researcher, it is clear that thermoelectricians have access to the very latest advanced material preparation facilities and can communicate speedily using the World Wide Web. The establishment of global networks has brought a new dimension to international collaboration enabling researchers at different locations to discuss research data and collaborate in program planning in ways undreamed of by the pioneering workers in this area of technology.
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ITS Newsletter
ICT97 in Dresden, Germany
CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES The XVI International Conference on Thermoelectrics ICT97 follows the traditional concept of the ICT series and will cover a broad range of topics in thermoelectric research and development. The meeting intends to provide scientists, engineers, manufacturers and users with a forum for exchange of recent developments in all fields of thermoelectricity. The topics of the conference will include, but are not limited to: |
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Institute of Solid State and Materials Research, Dresden
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ITS Newsletter
| EXHIBITION An exhibition featuring the latest devices and products of thermoelectric companies will run for the full duration of the conference conveniently located near the technical meeting rooms. THE ART HOTEL The ICT97 will be held in the conference and exhibition rooms of one of the new first class hotels in Dresden - the ART Hotel (art'otel) - located near to the historical part of the city. The arrangement of the conference and exhibition rooms offer a good climate for oral and poster sessions, exhibitions and communication. A limited number of rooms have been allocated in the ART Hotel at a discounted rate which is at about DM 165.- for single rooms and DM 195.- for double rooms (includes breakfast and tax). More detailed information will be given in the First Announcement. DRESDEN, GERMANY Dresden is located in the southern part of east Germany at the river Elbe. As the capital of Saxony, Dresden has an eventful history extending over 800 years. The visitors of Dresden are most impressed by the harmony between the architecture and the river, between the city and its natural surroundings and the Elbe meadows, extensive parks and gardens. The architecture of historical Dresden was strongly influenced by the Saxonian sovereigns Frederick Augustus I and II in the 18th century. Unique art treasures and outstanding musical and theatrical activities founded Dresden¢s reputation as German Florence. |
The ART Hotel Dresden has a long tradition in materials science. Based on the work of the chemist Ehrenfried Tschirnhaus, the first European porcelain was developed by A.Böttger in 1710. At present, the materials research in Dresden is organized in a community called Dresden Materials Research Association ("Material-forschungs-verbund") - comprising ten research institutes of the Dresden Technical University, the Saxonian government and Federal institutes. The IFW Dresden is both a member and coordinator of the Materials Research Association. Dresden is connected with nearly all of the airports in Germany and with airports of several European capitals. The most convenient plane route to Dresden is via Frankfurt/Main. |
Dresden, Germany
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ITS Newsletter
| DEADLINES
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| EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Please send the form below to A. Heinrich as early as possible by mail, E-mail or fax. Please answer the few additional questions at the end of the form |
----------Please
send a copy of the following--------
| NIST
Development Program National
Institute of Synthesis
of Fine-Powder Polycrystalline Bi-Se-Te,
Bi-Sb-Te, and Bi-Sb-Se-Te Alloys for
Thermoelectric Applications NIST Docket Number: 96-016PA Abstract Precursors to alloys having the general compositions Bi-Se-Te, Bi-Sb-Te, and Bi-Sb-Se-Te are synthesized by aqueous coprecipitation and metal-organo complex methods. Hydrogen reduction of the precursors produces the alloys in fine-powder, polycrystalline form. The method is simpler than conventional melt processing and produced an 88-92% yield in laboratory-scale tests. Description Bismuth telluride-based alloys are the materials of choice for solid-state thermoelectric cooling devices, but producing them by the current metallurgical melt processing method is equipment and labor intensive, while thermoelectric elements cut from the solidified alloys tend to be somewhat fragile. Such elements fabricated from polycrystalline powders made by crushing and sieving the solidified melts feature improved structural integrity but show some thermoelectric degradation because of the anisotropic nature of the material. This invention synthesizes bismuth-antimony-selenium-tellurium (Bi-Sb-Se-Te) alloys directly as polycrystalline fine powders using simple, cost-effective, solution-based chemical processes conducted at modest temperatures. The precursors are synthesized by aqueous coprecipitation and metal-organo complex methods and then hydrogen-reduced to form the alloys. Advantages Over Comparable Technologies The new method reduces equipment, materials, and labor costs by producing fine powders directly, thus eliminating the crushing and sieving steps necessary after melt-processing. Precursor synthesis occurs at under 100 Celsius in aqueous solution from commonly available chemicals. Alloy synthesis at 300- |
400 Celsius lower than melt-processing temperatures yields more than 88% product compared with theory. Scale-up to continuous production is possible using common chemical flow reactor technology. Potential Applications This invention improves the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of producing solid-state thermoelectric cooling and refrigerating devices. Status Provisional patent application filed. NIST is actively seeking US manufacturing companies interested in the technology. |
e-mail: jtlynch@nist.gov
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| Former
President's Salutation Auburn, Alabama, USA - Greetings fellow Thermoelectricians! By all accounts, the ICT96 held in Pasadena recently was a great success. Attendance and quality continue to be strong. Cooler manufacturers are selling more than ever. Waste heat power generation is getting serious attention (mostly outside the US!) And exciting results continue to be heard from the quantum well and novel materials crowd. The future of thermoelectricity is bright indeed: present technology continues a healthy pace of growth and the potential for a breakthrough in performance is as high as at anytime in the modern era.
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If, like me, you were unfortunate enough to miss this years conference, I'm sure you are already making plans to attend ICT97 to be held in Dresden, Germany in the fall of 1997. I know I am. In the mean time, more and more national organizations are including TE sessions in their conferences. Another sign of vigor in the R&D community, it also reinforces the important role the ITS can play in minimizing scheduling conflicts.
I believe the formation and progress of the ITS has played no small part in the healthy state of the field today. Part of the challenge for the future of the Society will be to balance unbridled enthusiasm and optimism associated with all the recent growth and new ideas against the need for sustainable advancement and realistic goals. Never an easy task, this can only be achieved by active member participation and feedback. We are fortunate indeed that at the very time we need it most, a radical new communication medium has appeared on the scene: the internet. By the time you read this, the ITS will have taken its place on the Net with a new, permanent World Wide Web site: http://www.its.org, where all the latest ITS information will be made available.
I'm convinced this will become an increasingly important communication vehicle for the ITS. Far from being simply a novel alternative to existing one-to-many medium such as radio, TV, newspapers and newsletters, the internet is a many-to-many medium with exciting new interactive
| possibilities. Most of us are already familiar with terms such as newsgroups, chat-rooms and teleconferencing. As time goes on these things will become everyday activities. For a far-flung organization like the ITS, the internet can be a powerful ally to help build collaborations and international cooperation. Please participate in the interaction by visiting www.its.org and joining the discussion. We want to hear from you! Sincerely, Cronin
B. Vining
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The XVII International Conference on Thermoelectrics will be held in Nagoya, Japan, on May 25-28, 1998. Nagoya is located in the center of Japan between Tokyo and Kyoto-Osaka areas. ICT 98 will provide a forum for presenting and discussing topics related to TE energy conversion, such as TE materials, TE property measurements, theoretical analyses, TE power generators, TE heating and cooling devices, TE sensors and detectors, design, fabrication, testing and economics of TE devices and systems.
For more information, please contact:
Fourth International Symposium on FGMs
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Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs) are novel advanced materials which are tailored to have properties gradually changing in space based on the optimization of the graded compositions and microstructures.
The concept of FGMs has spread worldwide during the past three international symposiums held in Sendal, Japan in 1990, San Francisco, United States in 1992, and Luasanne, Switzerland in 1994. The idea of graded structures and functions has attracted the attention of many scientists and researchers for its boundless scope in materials science and engineering. This symposium aims at opening channels among researchers working in state-of-the-art FGM topics and at discussing further developments in the FGM field.
SCOPE OF THE SYMPOSIUM
All aspects of functionally graded materials including their design, process and evaluation of structure, function and integration, as well as applications are expected to be covered. Examples of symposium topics are as follows:
1. Theories And Concepts: Micromechanics, graded potentials, analysis, new concepts, etc.
2. Design And Modeling: Computer design of graded structures and functions, stress and microscopic deformation, heat flux, failure analysis and others.
3. Processing And Properties: Powder metallurgy (PM), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), chemical vapor infiltration (CVI), etc.
4. Material Evaluation: Mechanical, electrical and thermal tests, etc.
5. Applications: Heat, wear and corrosion resistant materials, energy conversion materials, etc.
6. FGM
in Nature: Graded structures and functions in the
natural world and in living matter.
| CONFERENCE VENUE Tsukuba Research Center, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-4 Higashi, Tsukuba, Japan. It is located 50 km northwest of Narita International Airport and 60 km northeast of Tokyo. PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS Those who wish to make presentations should have submitted two copies of their typed in English to the secretariat by April 30, 1996. Authors will be notified of acceptance of their papers upon timely receipt of the abstracts. Further instructions regarding the format for the full text of the paper will be sent by mid June. Papers chosen for oral and poster sessions will be notified. Papers will be published after examination and acceptance by referee. SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM |
DEADLINES
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REGISTRATION FEES
The registration fee includes admission to the symposium, a copy of the proceedings volume, the banquet, coffee break refreshments and the farewell party. Participants are requested to complete the registration form and return to the Secretariat along with proof of remittance of the registration fee.
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Payment must be made in Japanese Yen () by bank transfer to the following bank account:
Payment by check is not acceptable. There are no refunds after August 31, 1996. In case of cancellation before August 31, 1996, 50% of the deposit will be refunded.
TECHNICAL TOUR
Following the symposium, there will be a technical tour of several major research facilities engaged in FGM research in the Tsukuba scientific and industrial research area.
ACCOMPANYING PERSONS PROGRAM
A sightseeing tour around Tsukuba, Kashima Inari (a Shinto Shrine) and a traditional chrysanthemum festival, are scheduled for accompanying persons on Monday and Tuesday during the symposium. A Japanese traditional tea ceremony and flower arrangement viewing are also scheduled. Accompanying persons may attend the banquet for Y 5,000.
HOTEL INFORMATION
If you need room reservations, please contact the Japan Travel Bureau at the following address:
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All symposium related correspondence should be directed to:
Name: ______________________________________________
Address 1: _________________________________________
City: __________State: _______________
Zip: ____________Country: ____________
Ph.: ______________________________________________
Fax: ______________________________________________
e-mail: ______________________________________________
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-------------------------Thank
you------------------------
| European
Thermoelectric Society
It was in 1993, when the ITS Newsletter announced the formation of a German scientific society to "promote research and application in the field of thermoelectricity and to provide a forum for discussion and initiation of cooperation." It was named "Forschungs- und Anwendergemeinschaft Thermoelektrik (FAT)." In the first FAT seminar held in Jena in 1993 most of the scientists active in thermoelectricity in Germany took part. Reviews and contributed papers have been given about research programs, recent developments and new results. A brief summary about the corresponding research programs can be found in the Proc. of the XIIth ICT, Yokohama, p. 581. This FAT-Seminar was the first general meeting of scientists active in thermoelectrics in Germany. It served in making new acquaintances and in establishing new relations. The participants agreed to have a second seminar in 1994, but they found it necessary to extend their forum and to invite scientists from other countries. This intention has met with the proposal of several colleagues in Europe to establish cooperation within the European Union in the form of a "thermoelectric network". As a result instead of a 2nd FAT-Seminar the 1st European Workshop on Thermoelectricity was organized and held in Dresden (Germany) in October 1994 with more than 40 participants from six countries. The European Thermoelectric Society A special session of this workshop was devoted to the idea of a European Thermoelectric Network. Agreement was achieved about the main goals: to attract more attention from the governmental authorities and to obtain financial support for common projects from national administrations and European Commissions. A resolution was passed to organize a meeting for the formation of this network and to draw up articles of the association. The meeting of formation was held in Cologne in February 1995, with participants of eight European countries. It ended with the establishment of the "European Thermoelectric Society" and the passing of a constitution similar to that of the ITS. The elected board consists of H. Scherrer (France) as chairman, D.M. Rowe (UK) as treasurer, J. Schilz (Germany) as secretary |
and M.A. Sanz-Bobi (Spain), V. Fano (Italy), A. Heinrich (Germany), J.-P. Issi (Belgium), Gao Min (UK) and S. Scherrer (France) as board members. The Second European Workshop What followed was the second European Workshop (now organized by the ETS) in November 1995 in Nancy, France, with 65 attendees. Individual programs and recent results were presented as a basis for the formation of working projects within the European research programs. A third workshop will be held in Cardiff, UK, Sept. 16-17, 1996. It is planned to be a real forum for group discussions rather than a pure presentation of papers. A key aspect of the workshop will be marketing the thermoelectric technology project, its image and establishing collaborative research activities which lead to funding.
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ETS a Part of ITS
Participants
anticipating to present a paper, should submit two copies
of an extended abstract before June 30th, addressed to:
ETS'96 Organizing Committee
| By Jrgen Schilz and Michael Rowe It was the year 1817. Georg Simon Ohm arrived in Cologne to start teaching at the "Gymnasium an Marzellen" and to undertake research in the "physical cabinet" of the old University of Cologne [1,2]. In fact, the University as such did not exist at the time - it was among the establishments which were closed by the French in 1798. Consequently, the physical cabinet had to move to the Jesuit college in the Marzellenstrasse.
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Because of this physical cabinet with its exceptional research facilities, why Ohm applied to the mathematician Karl Friedrich Grashof, the director of public education for the Lower Rhineland, for a teaching post at the "Gymnasium an Marzellen", a school just opposite the physical cabinet. In addition, there was the prospect of Cologne University re-opening following King Friedrich Wilhelm III's promise to the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to establish a Rhine University.
In addition to a fully equipped astronomical and meteorological observatory, the physical cabinet possessed first class facilities for the investigation of electrical and magnetic phenomena. Consequently, Ohm, who even resided in the Jesuit college, was able to use these facilities to undertake his research into the nature of electricity and magnetism.
Electrical Phenomena
At the onset of his investigations, Ohm had little knowledge of prevailing physical research problems and he spent several years acquainting himself with the wide range and often contradictory electrical and magnetic phenomena.
At the
beginning of the 19th century it was known from the study
of electrostatics that there were two kinds of electrical
charge: positive and negative. These two had a tendency
to neutralize each other which could be explained by the
Coulomb force. Because, in nature, Neutralization of the
opposite electrostatic charges was often accompanied by
thunder and lightning, it was referred to as
"electrical conflict."
| Studies of electric charge neutralization by passing electric currents through metals and aqueous solutions, revealed other random, conflicting phenomena, which were usually dependent on the experimental equipment employed. Consequently, electrical current in wires were also referred to as "electrical conflict." Well known researchers, such as André-Marie Ampère, Peter Barlow, Antoine-César Bequerel and Humphry Davy had tried unsuccessfully to derive quantitative relationships which described the behavior of electrical current. A flow of electricity was always accompanied by a surge in the electromotive force, which today we would refer to as a "voltage fluctuation." In the 19th century this surge was thought to be the origin of the "electrical conflict", i.e. the electrical current. Current sources were generally batteries of galvanic cells, the so-called voltaic piles. When researchers observed a surge on their electrometers, a load was immediately connected to this battery which led to the above conclusion. In addition the electromotive force was reduced by a load - a result which could only be explained later following Ohm's understanding and definition of the internal resistance of a battery. During this experiment, Ohm concluded that the surge in the electromotive force was not associated with the conduction of electricity in metals and electrolytes but was due to the galvanic cell. Its construction at that time did not facilitate the suppression of distorting polarization phenomena, i.e. changes in the concentration of the electrolyte at the electrodes and in the production of hydrogen gas. Because better voltage sources were not available there appeared little possibility of conducting unambiguous experiments on electric phenomena. Thermoelectricity It was fortuitous that in 1825 Johann Christian Poggendorff, publisher of the "Annalen der Physik," drew Ohm's attention to the fact that a thermoelectrically generated current exerted a constant force on a magnetic needle. He also suggested that a TE current might be free of random fluctuations. The first of the TE effects had been discovered four years previously by Thomas Johann Seebeck, who had observed that a current could be generated in a circuit made of two dissimilar metals with the two junctions held at different temperatures. However, |
| the origin of the voltage which produced this current was unknown. At the time it could not be quantified, as voltages of the order of millivolts could only be measured after William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) constructed the quadrant electrometer in 1855. Ohm commenced his research into thermoelectricity. He first measured the magnitude of the TE (Seebeck) voltage by comparing it with the voltage produced by a galvanic cell. He concluded that 225 brass-iron thermoelements in series were needed to match the electromotive force (emf) of a copper zinc cell. In addition he demonstrated that the Seebeck voltage was a linear function of the temperature difference across the thermoelements over the range 0 to 100° C. (It is worth noting that no cooling equipment existed and that the measurements were carried out in an ambient temperature of approaching zero [3,4]. It must have been winter...) The Discovery Of Ohm's Law Thermoelements provided Ohm with an ideal voltage source. They generate a well defined emf and have a small internal resistance compared with the load (sample). These features proved to be deciding factors in the accurate measurement of electric current.
The interaction between an electric current and a magnetic needle was discovered by Ørsted in 1820 and it was known that a magnetic needle was deflected by an electric current. The following year Poggendorff and Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger had developed the first needle galvanometer. However, Ohm realized that such a galvanometer with its high internal resistance would adversely affect any measurements. Ohm used a single wire as shown in the figure [3,4,5]. He employed a single bismuth-copper thermocouple, the contacts to which can be seen on the right hand side and with a and a' in water baths at different temperatures. The galvanometer, |
which is actually a torsion balance, is enclosed by a glass cylinder. A long magnetic pointer is fixed by a metal band above a large cross-section copper wire. The deflection of the needle by the electric current is compensated for by the torsion in the band. The pointer can be zeroed using the magnifying glass and the torsion angle read off the circular scale on the top of the apparatus. Two dishes m and m' contain mercury which facilitates electrical connection and hence measurements on sample wires of different length and cross-section. Thus Ohm had successfully constructed a low resistance experiment set up.
|
The results of a large number of experiments yielded the simple relationship f = X / (C+l), with X proportional to the electromotive force, C a constant depending on the thermoelement and the galvanometer, l a sample parameter and f the torsion angle.
This expression is already Ohm's law as it gives a linear relationship between the electromotive force and the galvanometer reading.
Ohm defined f as the magnitude of the electric current, a definition that makes redundant the previous concepts of "quantity" and "intensity". The proportionality factor (C+ l) is defined as resistance and Ohm correctly interprets C as the internal resistance and l, the sample resistance. He also obtained the expression l = l / (s A) where l and A are the length and cross-sectional area respectively of the sample. At the time the proportionality between the resistance of the wire and its cross-section was a surprise as it demonstrates the presence of a homogeneous current density - totally different from the notion of the electrical conflict resulting from electrostatics where charges are only found on the surface of conductors.
Ohm published the result of his experiments together with his formulation of the differential equations for this electric current and procedures for finding current and potentials in circuits in more than 20 papers. However, for more than 10 years or so, it remained unclear whether or not his findings were only valid for TE driven currents or whether his results could be applied to other sources of electricity, viz. galvanic cells, electricity generated by friction or "animalic".
| In conclusion, the discovery of the first of the TE phenomena in 1821 had an enormous influence on the progress in understanding the electricity. Ohm's work initiated further studies by Gustav Theodor Fechner, who confirmed Ohm's law using galvanic cells; James Prescott Joule, who found the expression for the electric work; Hermann von Helmholtz and William Thomson, who established the law of energy conservation; Rudolf Kohlrausch, who discovered proportionality between electrostatic and "electroscopic" potential; and finally, the work of Gustav Robert Kirchhoff, who formulated the three dimensional representation of electric potential.
|
Unfortunately, Ohm became increasingly burdened with lessons at school and in 1826 he ended his experiments and abruptly left Cologne. After a short time in Berlin, Ohm went to Nuernberg, where he became director of the polytechnic.
After Ohm's departure from Cologne, no one appears to have used the physical cabinet again. There is no record of the whereabouts of his instruments, only the rumor that the French took his equipment when they left the Rhineland.
We are grateful to W. Klein, University of Cologne, who provided us the material about Ohm. He built an almost true copy of Ohm's measuring equipment shown in the figure and repeated the historic experiments.
[2] J.P. Fricke, Beitraege zur rheinischen Musikgeschichte, Heft 23, Rheinische Musiker 2. Folge, K.G. Fellerer, Koeln 1962.
[3] G.S. Ohm, Schweigger's Journal der Chemie und Physik 46 (1826) 137.
[4] G.S. Ohm, Jahrbuch der Chemie und Physik 16 (1826) Heft 2.
[5] The Scientific Paters of James Clerk Maxwell, Dover-Reprint, New York 1965.
| |
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