Dissertation in the field of Electrophysics, Mikko Ruoho
The title of thesis is ”Nanostructured thin films for thermoelectric and sensing applications”.
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Thermal energy constitutes a natural source of energy and most energy con-sumed is finally converted to heat. However, the overall energy conversion pro-cess remains inefficient creating the need for solutions that may be used to improve the efficiency. Thermoelectric materials offer an opportunity to improve the energy efficiency in thermal processes by converting the waste heat directly into electricity in a solid state material via the Seebeck effect. Since the achieved conversion efficiency remains still relatively low, a great challenge for materials research is to improve thermoelectric performance for example by microscopic tailoring of materials. Finally, nanotechnology has brought along many methods for tailoring the underlying conduction mechanisms that determine the perfor-mance of thermoelectric generators.
Novel thermoelectric thin film materials and their applications are studied in this thesis. The presented research focuses on the development of metrology for the characterization of thermoelectric material properties, studies the thermoelectric properties of nanostructured materials and presents novel application of transparent thermoelectric thin films.
The results presented in this thesis enable novel applications and solutions both for energy conversion and sensing. Consequently, the outcomes are forming the basis for a novel field of transparent and flexible thermoelectrics.
Opponent: Dr. Olga Caballero Calero, Instituto de Microelectrónica de Madrid
Supervisor: Professor Ilkka Tittonen, Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering, Department of Micro- and Nanosciences
Contact information:
Mikko Ruoho
tel. 040 7238 257
mikko.ruoho@aalto.fi