KR20060023442A - A manufacturing method of thermoelectric module using thin-layer forming process - Google Patents

Abstract

Method for manufacturing a thermoelectric module according to the present invention, (I) forming a plurality of electrodes on the insulating substrate to produce a module upper plate and a lower plate, respectively; (II) manufacturing a unit thermoelectric chip positioned between the module upper plate and the module lower plate to transfer heat between the two modules; (III) attaching a unit thermoelectric chip on the module lower plate; (IV) flip-chip bonding the electrodes of the module lower plate to abut on the unit thermoelectric chip; And (V) connecting lead wires to both ends of the electrodes of the module lower plate.

Another thermoelectric module manufacturing method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: (i) forming a plurality of electrodes on the insulating substrate to produce a module upper plate and a lower plate, respectively; (Ii) manufacturing a unit thermoelectric chip positioned between the module upper plate and the module lower plate to transfer heat between the two modules; (Iii) attaching an anisotropic conductive film on the module upper plate and the module lower plate; (Iii) attaching a unit thermoelectric chip on the anisotropic conductive film formed on the module lower plate; (Iii) flip-chip bonding the anisotropic conductive film of the module upper plate to abut on the unit thermoelectric chip; And (iii) connecting lead wires to both ends of the electrodes of the module lower plate.

The manufacturing of the unit thermoelectric chip may include: (A) patterning a metal thin film to a predetermined size on a detachable substrate; (B) depositing or screen printing a thin film thermoelectric element on the metal thin film using a shadow mask; (C) depositing or screen printing a metal thin film on the thin film thermoelectric element using a shadow mask; And (D) separating the detachable substrate into a layer other than the substrate (hereinafter, also referred to as a unit thermoelectric chip).

Thin Film Thermoelectric Devices, Shadow Masks, Bangler AM Films

Description

A manufacturing method of thermoelectric module using thin-layer forming process             

1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a thermoelectric device (module) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a thermoelectric device (module) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a unit thermoelectric chip shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in more detail.

4 to 6 are diagrams sequentially showing a manufacturing process of a unit thermoelectric chip according to the present invention.

4 is a view showing patterning a metal thin film on a detachable substrate,

5 and 6 illustrate the deposition of N-type and P-type thin film thermoelectric elements and a metal thin film on the metal thin film.

7A and 7B are front views of the module upper and lower plates according to the present invention.

8A and 8B are plan views of the upper and lower modules according to the present invention.

9 is a view showing attaching the unit thermoelectric chip to the module lower plate according to the present invention.

10A is a plan view illustrating flip-chip bonding of a module top plate and a module bottom plate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

10B is a plan view illustrating flip-chip bonding of a module upper plate and a module lower plate according to another embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a front view illustrating a thermoelectric package according to an embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a front view showing a thermoelectric package according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: removable substrate 20: metal thin film

31 N-type thermoelectric thin film element 32 P-type thermoelectric thin film element

40: thin metal film 50: shadow mask pattern

60: module top plate 61: metal substrate of the module top plate

62: insulation layer of the module top plate 63: insulation board of the module top plate

64: metal electrode of the module upper plate 70: module lower plate

72: insulating layer of the lower module 73: insulating board of the lower module

71: metal substrate of the lower module module 74: metal electrode of the lower module module

81, 82: anisotropic conductive film (ACF) 91, 92: lead wire

100: N-type unit thermoelectric chip 200: P-type unit thermoelectric chip

a: width of metal thin film b: shadow mask pattern width

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a thermoelectric module, and more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a thermoelectric module that can significantly reduce the manufacturing cost by simplifying the manufacturing process of a cooling / power generation module using a thin film material.

In general, thermoelectric elements generate a potential difference due to thermal electromotive force at both ends when a temperature difference is applied to both ends of a material having thermal electromotive force, and is cooled at an interface according to the direction of current when supplying current through dissimilar metal at both ends. Or it is a device that can be used for power generation or cooling by using a phenomenon that generates heat.

In the case of power generation, not only can be used for energy production like waste heat generation, but can also improve the energy use efficiency of the system by generating power using the heat generated by the automobile, power generated using heat generated from the fuel cell, and the like.

In the case of the cooling, it is a powerful alternative to overcome the problems of environmental pollution, noise, long-term reliability of the conventional compressor method. However, since the efficiency of commercialized materials is not yet equal to that of the compressor method, a wide range of applications have not been achieved.

Recent studies have shown that inducing a nanoscale artificial structure to a material significantly reduces the thermal conductivity of the material due to phonon ⁽¹⁾ , which greatly improves the efficiency of the thermoelectric element and approximates the efficiency of the compressor. It is. ^(2,3) However, the formation of these materials in the form of agglomerates has not been successful, and it is unclear whether it is possible to achieve high performance in the form of agglomerative materials.

Therefore, application of thin film-type materials that are easy to structure nanostructures is currently the most reliable way to improve performance.

Unlike the electronic circuit, the thermoelectric element may be used for most applications in a 100 μm level processing process. Therefore, there is no need to use a general thin film patterning process. However, if the material itself is a thin film with a thickness of 100㎛ or less, mechanical processing is not easy. In addition, Bi-Sb-Te-based thermoelectric materials, which are widely used in room temperature applications, are mechanically very brittle and not easily processed by chemical etching as well as by chemical etching. ^{(4) (5)}

For this reason, in the manufacture of a module using agglomerate, for this reason, the cost required for processing occupies a large ratio.

(1) S.-M. Lee, D. Cahill, R. Venkatasubramanian, Thermal conductivity of Si-Ge superlattices, Appl. Phys. Lett. 70 (1997) 2957.

(2). Venkatasubramanian, R., Siivola, E., Colpitts, T. & Quinn, B. Thin- film thermoelectric devices with high room-temperature figures of merit. Nature 413, 597-602 (2001).

(3) Harman, T. C., Taylor, P. J., Walsh, M. P. & LaForge, B. E. Quantum dot superlattice thermoelectric materials and devices. Science 297, 2229-232 (2002).

(4) Rowe, DM (ed.) Thermoelectric Handbook (CRC, Boca Raton, 1995).

(5) Nolas, G. (ed.) Thermoelectrics Basic principles and New Materials

Developments (Springer, New York, 2002)

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object thereof is to provide a thermoelectric module manufacturing method that can significantly reduce the manufacturing cost by simplifying the manufacturing process of the cooling / power generation module using a thin film material. .

Thermoelectric module manufacturing method according to the present invention to achieve the above object,

(I) forming a plurality of electrodes on the insulating substrate to produce a module upper plate and a lower plate, respectively; (II) manufacturing a unit thermoelectric chip positioned between the module upper plate and the module lower plate to transfer heat between the two modules; (III) attaching a unit thermoelectric chip on the module lower plate; (IV) flip-chip bonding the electrodes of the module lower plate to abut on the unit thermoelectric chip; And (V) connecting lead wires to both ends of the electrodes of the module lower plate.

Another thermoelectric module manufacturing method according to the present invention,

(Iv) forming a plurality of electrodes on the insulating substrate to fabricate the upper and lower modules respectively; (Ii) manufacturing a unit thermoelectric chip positioned between the module upper plate and the module lower plate to transfer heat between the two modules; (Iii) attaching an anisotropic conductive film on the module upper plate and the module lower plate; (Iii) attaching a unit thermoelectric chip on the anisotropic conductive film formed on the module lower plate; (Iii) flip-chip bonding the anisotropic conductive film of the module upper plate to abut on the unit thermoelectric chip; And (iii) connecting lead wires to both ends of the electrodes of the module lower plate.

Producing the unit thermoelectric chip,

(A) patterning the metal thin film to a predetermined size on the detachable substrate; (B) depositing or screen printing a thin film thermoelectric element on the metal thin film using a shadow mask; (C) depositing or screen printing a metal thin film on the thin film thermoelectric element using a shadow mask; And (D) separating the separable substrate into layers other than the substrate (unit thermoelectric chip).

The insulating substrate includes one formed by forming an insulating layer on a metal substrate.

The thickness of the metal thin film on the detachable substrate is preferably within 100 μm.

The width of the metal thin film on the detachable substrate is preferably larger than the width of the shadow mask pattern.

The detachable substrate is preferably a material which is dissolved by water or a solvent, or a material having a weak physical adhesive strength with a metal.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a thermoelectric device (module) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, in order to manufacture a thermoelectric device according to the present invention, first, a module upper plate and a module lower plate are manufactured. (S101) A detailed description thereof will be made with reference to FIGS. 7A to 8B. The top and module bottoms have the same shape except for one.

That is, the module upper plate and the lower plate have a structure in which a plurality of electrodes are formed on an insulating substrate, wherein the module upper plate has one fewer electrode than the module lower plate.

As described above, after fabricating the module upper plate and the module lower plate, a unit thermoelectric chip to be attached to the upper portion of the module lower plate is manufactured. (S102) The unit thermoelectric chip is positioned between the module upper plate and the lower plate of the module to form a row It functions to deliver.

A detailed description of the unit thermoelectric chip process will be made with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, but briefly described herein, the unit thermoelectric chip includes a metal thin film and a thermoelectric element (N-type thin film thermoelectric element or P-type formed on the metal thin film). A thin film thermoelectric element) and a metal thin film formed on the thin film thermoelectric element.

As described above, after fabricating the module upper and lower plates and the unit thermoelectric chip, the unit thermoelectric chip is attached to the module upper plate (S103).

Then, the module upper plate is flip-chip bonded to the upper portion of the unit thermoelectric chip formed on the lower plate of the module (S104). In other words, the electrode of the upper module plate is attached to the unit thermoelectric chip formed on the upper plate of the module. .

As described above, after the module upper plate and the module lower plate are flip-chip bonded, lead wires are connected to both electrodes of the lower plate to complete the final thermoelectric module package.

The thermoelectric module package is shown in FIG. 11, and detailed description is made in the description of FIG. 11.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a thermoelectric device (module) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, in another method of manufacturing a thermoelectric module, an anisotropic conductive film may be formed between the unit thermoelectric chip and the module upper plate and between the unit thermoelectric chip and the module lower plate in the thermoelectric device manufacturing step shown in FIG. 1. It further comprises the step of inserting.

That is, the present invention is to form a plurality of electrodes on the insulating substrate to produce a module upper and lower plates, respectively (S201); Manufacturing a unit thermoelectric chip positioned between the upper and lower modules of the module to transfer heat between the two modules (S202); Attaching an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) to the upper and lower plates of the module (S203); Attaching a unit thermoelectric chip on the anisotropic conductive film formed on the module lower plate (S204); Flip-chip bonding the anisotropic conductive film of the module upper plate onto the unit thermoelectric chip (S205); And connecting the lead wires to both ends of the electrodes of the lower plate of the module to complete the final package (S206).

The thermoelectric module package is shown in FIG. 12, and detailed description is made in the description of FIG. 12.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a unit thermoelectric chip shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in more detail.

4 to 6 are diagrams illustrating a manufacturing process of a unit thermoelectric chip according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view illustrating patterning a metal thin film on a detachable substrate, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are the metal thin films. N and P type thin film thermoelectric elements and a metal thin film are deposited on the drawing.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in order to manufacture the unit thermoelectric chip, first, the metal thin film 20 is patterned to a predetermined size on the detachable substrate 10.

The detachable substrate 10 is preferably a material which is dissolved by water or a solvent, or a material having a weak physical adhesion with metal.

The solvent is preferably an organic solvent.

Examples of the material of the detachable substrate 10 include salt (NaCl), polymer (particularly, organic polymer, glass, and the like).

As a method of forming the metal thin film 20 on the substrate 10, there is a method of manufacturing a thin film such as direct bonding (bonding) using an adhesive, plating, fastening, deposition.

The thickness of the metal thin film 20 is preferably within 100㎛ so that the structure can be maintained compared to the force to be separated later.

After patterning the metal thin film 20 to a predetermined size on the detachable substrate 10 as described above, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the thin film thermoelectric elements 31 and 32 are disposed on the metal thin film 20. Deposition or screen printing using the shadow mask 50 (S302).

Then, the thin metal film 40 is deposited or screen printed using the shadow mask 50 on the thin film thermoelectric elements 31 and 32 again (S303).

Examples of the thin film deposition method include thermal evaporation, E-beam, sputtering, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and the like. good.

The width a of the metal thin film 20 on the detachable substrate is preferably larger than the width b of the shadow mask pattern 50. Accordingly, the present invention can not only facilitate mask alignment but also prevent the change of physical properties due to irregularities and the like because the boundary surface of the thin film material is formed on a flat surface.

As described above, after the thin film thermoelectric element is deposited or screen printed on the metal thin film using a shadow mask, the detachable substrate 10 and the layer (unit thermoelectric chip) 100 and 200 other than the substrate are separated. (S304)

Accordingly, the unit thermoelectric chips 100 and 200 may include the thin film metal 20, the thin film thermoelectric elements 31 and 32 deposited on the thin film metal, and the thin film metal 40 deposited on the thin film thermoelectric element. Is done.

7A and 8A are front views of module upper and lower plates according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 8A and 8B are plan views of module upper and lower plates according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 7A and 8A, the upper and lower modules according to an embodiment of the present invention may include metal substrates 61 and 71, insulating layers 62 and 72 formed on the metal substrate, It consists of electrodes 64 and 74 formed on the insulating layer.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 8B, the upper and lower modules according to another embodiment of the present invention may be formed of insulating substrates 63 and 73 and electrodes 64 and 74 formed on the insulating substrate. Is done.

The electrodes 64 and 74 are preferably pre-tinned thick metal electrodes that are plated with tin in advance.

9 is a view showing attaching the unit thermoelectric chip to the module lower plate according to the present invention.

9, in the present invention, the N-type unit thermoelectric chip 100 and the P-type unit thermoelectric chip 200 are attached to the metal electrode 74 formed on the module lower plate 70.

10A and 10B are plan views illustrating flip-chip bonding of a module upper plate and a module lower plate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 10A, the N-type unit thermoelectric chip 100 and the P-type unit thermoelectric chip 200 are alternately attached to only the metal electrode 74 of the module lower plate.

In addition, in FIG. 10B, the N-type unit thermoelectric chip 100 is attached to the metal electrode 74 of the module lower plate 70, and the P-type unit thermoelectric chip 200 is attached to the metal electrode 64 of the module upper plate 60. To attach).

Even if the P-type unit thermoelectric chip 200 and the N-type unit thermoelectric chip 100 are attached to the module upper plate and the module lower plate according to FIGS. 10A or 10B, the flip-chip bonding may have the same shape as that of FIG. 11.

That is, in the present invention, when the module upper plate 60 and the module lower plate 70 are flip-chip bonded as described above, the unit thermoelectric chip disposed on the module upper plate 60 or the module lower plate 70 may have the shape as shown in FIG. 11. The kind and order of them are irrelevant.

11 is a front view showing a thermoelectric package according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the thermoelectric module includes an insulating substrate 73 on the lower surface of the module, an electrode 74 on the lower surface of the module, unit thermoelectric chips 100 and 200, and an electrode 64 on the upper surface of the module. And an insulating substrate 63 of the upper module board, and lead wires 91 and 92 are connected to both ends of the electrode 74 of the lower module board.

The unit thermoelectric chips 100 and 200 are formed on the metal thin film 20, the thermoelectric elements (N-type thermoelectric element, P-type thermoelectric element) 31, 32, and the thermoelectric element formed on the metal thin film 20. The formed metal thin film 40 is included.

12 is a front view showing a thermoelectric package according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, the thermoelectric module includes an insulating substrate 73 on the lower surface of the module, an electrode 74 on the lower surface of the module, an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) 82, and a unit thermoelectric chip 100 (in order from bottom to top). 200), an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) 81, an electrode 64 of a module upper plate, and an insulating substrate 63 of a module upper plate, and lead wires 91 and 92 at both ends of the electrode 74 of the module lower plate. ) Is connected.

As for the anisotropic conductive films 81 and 82, the smaller the resistance of the conductive ball itself is, the better the dispersion density of the conductive ball is.

Although not shown in the drawings of the present invention, in the unit thermoelectric chip process, it is possible to manufacture a thin film made of a metal-thermoelectric element-metal at a time.

As described above, it has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, but those skilled in the art various modifications and changes of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the claims below I can understand that you can.

As described above, the present invention can make a thin film thermoelectric device through a single thin film deposition process, and simply implement it as a module, thereby greatly reducing the manufacturing process cost, and increasing the ratio of the available thermoelectric thin film per fabricated thin film area per process. The production can be greatly increased.

In addition, in the design of the thermoelectric module, the present invention can determine the position of the thermoelectric chip at the time of assembly, thereby realizing a product having various capacities depending on the application, unlike the case of patterning following general etching.

In addition, the present invention can use an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) when assembling the thermoelectric module can be assembled without a separate solder (solder) and do not have to pre-tinned the process of plating with tin in advance (solder) It can reduce the reliability problem.

Claims (8)

(I) forming a plurality of electrodes on the insulating substrate to produce a module upper plate and a lower plate, respectively; (II) manufacturing a unit thermoelectric chip positioned between the module upper plate and the module lower plate to move heat between the two modules; (III) attaching a unit thermoelectric chip on the module lower plate; (IV) flip-chip bonding the electrodes of the module lower plate to abut on the unit thermoelectric chip; And (V) a method of manufacturing a thermoelectric module by a thin film process comprising connecting lead wires to both ends of an electrode of the module lower plate. (Iv) forming a plurality of electrodes on the insulating substrate to fabricate the upper and lower modules respectively; (Ii) manufacturing a unit thermoelectric chip positioned between the module upper plate and the module lower plate to move heat between the two modules; (Iii) attaching an anisotropic conductive film on the module upper plate and the module lower plate; (Iii) attaching a unit thermoelectric chip on the anisotropic conductive film formed on the module lower plate; (Iii) flip-chip bonding the anisotropic conductive film of the module upper plate to abut on the unit thermoelectric chip; And (Iii) a method of manufacturing a thermoelectric module by a thin film process comprising connecting lead wires to both ends of an electrode of the module lower plate. The method of claim 1, wherein the manufacturing of the unit thermoelectric chip comprises: (A) patterning the metal thin film to a predetermined size on the detachable substrate; (B) depositing or screen printing a thin film thermoelectric element on the metal thin film using a shadow mask; (C) depositing or screen printing a metal thin film on the thin film thermoelectric element using a shadow mask; And (D) a method of manufacturing a thermoelectric module by a thin film process, comprising the step of separating the separable substrate and a layer (unit thermoelectric chip) other than the substrate. The method of claim 3, wherein the insulating substrates of steps I) and i) are formed by forming an insulating layer on a metal substrate. The method of claim 4, wherein the thickness of the metal thin film on the detachable substrate of step A) is within 100 μm. The method of claim 5, wherein the width of the metal thin film on the detachable substrate of step A) is greater than the width of the shadow mask pattern. The method of claim 6, wherein the detachable substrate of step A) is a material which is dissolved by water or a solvent. The method of claim 6, wherein the detachable substrate of step A) is a material having a weak physical adhesion with a metal.

Images