Patents by Inventor Steven B. Cronin

Steven B. Cronin has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6627809
    Abstract: A carrier pocket engineering technique used to provide superlattice structures having relatively high values of the three-dimensional thermoelectric figure of merit (Z3DT) is described. Also described are several superlattice systems provided in acordance with the carrier pocket engineering technique. Superlattice structures designed in accordance with this technique include a plurality of alternating layers of at least two different semiconductor materials. First ones of the layers correspond to barrier layers and second ones of the layers correspond to well layers but barrier layers can also work as well layers for some certain carrier pockets and vice-versa. Each of the well layers are provided having quantum well states formed from carrier pockets at various high symmetry points in the Brillouin zone of the structure to provide the superlattice having a relatively high three-dimensional thermoelectric figure of merit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2003
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Takaaki Koga, Mildred S. Dresselhaus, Xiangzhong Sun, Steven B. Cronin