Patents Assigned to Phononic Device, Inc.
  • Patent number: 8563844
    Abstract: Embodiments of a thin-film heterostructure thermoelectric material and methods of fabrication thereof are disclosed. In general, the thermoelectric material is formed in a Group IIa and IV-VI materials system. The thermoelectric material includes an epitaxial heterostructure and exhibits high heat pumping and figure-of-merit performance in terms of Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity over broad temperature ranges through appropriate engineering and judicious optimization of the epitaxial heterostructure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignees: Phononic Devices, Inc., Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
    Inventors: Allen L. Gray, Robert Joseph Therrien, Patrick John McCann
  • Patent number: 8564129
    Abstract: Embodiments of a low resistivity contact to a semiconductor structure are disclosed. In one embodiment, a semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor layer, a semiconductor contact layer having a low bandgap on a surface of the semiconductor layer, and an electrode on a surface of the semiconductor contact layer opposite the semiconductor layer. The bandgap of the semiconductor contact layer is in a range of and including 0 to 0.2 electron-volts (eV), more preferably in a range of and including 0 to 0.1 eV, even more preferably in a range of and including 0 to 0.05 eV. Preferably, the semiconductor layer is p-type. In one particular embodiment, the semiconductor contact layer and the electrode form an ohmic contact to the p-type semiconductor layer and, as a result of the low bandgap of the semiconductor contact layer, the ohmic contact has a resistivity that is less than 1×10?6 ohms·cm2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Phononic Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Joseph Therrien, Jason D. Reed, Jaime A. Rumsey, Allen L. Gray