Characterizing a Thermoelectric Module as Part of a Semiconductor Course Laboratory

Thermoelectric modules (TEM), also known as Peltier modules, form an interesting topic to cover in an introductory semiconductor course. They provide insight on some important semiconductor principles, namely the Seebeck effect (the reverse of the Peltier effect) and thermal conductance. This paper presents a new methodology to characterize a TEM using a custom-designed test apparatus along with a simplified method for determining the TEM's three key parameters: its Seebeck coefficient, its electrical resistance, and its thermal conductance. Results obtained using this methodology were validated by comparing the anticipated theoretical behavior of the TEM (using the experimentally determined parameters) to the actual results obtained in a vacuum environment. The suggested methodology has been evaluated by students and the results of this demonstrate its usefulness in an educational environment.