JP2001148519A - Thermo module and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thermomodule with good productivity and a method for manufacturing the same. SOLUTION: A P-type semiconductor element row including a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and an N-type semiconductor element row including a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are alternately arranged at a predetermined interval. The plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and the plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are connected in series by a first electrode and a second electrode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a thermomodule using a plurality of pairs of thermoelectric semiconductor elements having a Peltier effect and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a thermo module using a thermoelectric semiconductor element, a P-type semiconductor element (bismuth, tellurium, antimony crystal) and an N-type semiconductor element (bismuth, tellurium, selenium crystal) are joined via electrodes. It is formed by forming a pair of a P-type semiconductor element and an N semiconductor element. As shown in FIG. 7, a conventional thermo module has a P-type semiconductor element 02 and an N-type semiconductor element 03 alternately arranged in a matrix, and an adjacent P-type semiconductor element 02 and an N-type semiconductor element are arranged in a matrix. Both ends of the element 03 are joined by a first electrode plate 04 and a second electrode plate 05 so as to be connected in series, and lead wires are respectively connected to the N-type semiconductor element 03 and the P-type semiconductor element 02 at the ends. 06 and lead 07
Is connected. In the thermo module configured as described above, the plus (+) voltage of the DC power supply is applied to the lead wire 06 connected to the N-type semiconductor element 03, and the minus (-) voltage is applied to the lead wire 07 connected to the P-type semiconductor element 02. Is applied, a Peltier effect occurs in which the semiconductor element is cooled on one side and generates heat on the other side. Thermo modules utilizing the Peltier effect are widely used in cooling devices for electronic devices, small refrigerators, and the like.

The above-mentioned thermo module is manufactured, for example, as follows. First, a P-type semiconductor device ingot (crystal bar) and an N-type semiconductor device ingot (crystal bar) are sliced to form a rectangular semiconductor device having a predetermined size. Both ends of the semiconductor element are plated with nickel (Ni). The P-type semiconductor element 02 and the N-type semiconductor element
3 are alternately arranged in a matrix, and are brazed to the first electrode plate 04 and the second electrode plate 05 so that each P-type semiconductor element 02 and N-type semiconductor element 03 are connected in series.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned thermo module, the P-type semiconductor element 02 and the N-type semiconductor element 03 are alternately arranged in a matrix, so that the P-type semiconductor element 02 and the N-type It is necessary to handle the semiconductor elements 03 with care one by one, and therefore, the productivity is low and this is one of the factors that hinder cost reduction.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned facts, and a main technical problem thereof is to provide a thermomodule with good productivity and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are arranged in columns and rows. The thermoelectric module in which the P-type semiconductor element and the N-type semiconductor element are sandwiched between the first electrode means and the second electrode means.
A plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are alternately arranged at a predetermined interval. A thermo module is provided, wherein semiconductor elements are connected in series by the first electrode means and the second electrode means.

The first electrode means includes a plurality of electrodes for connecting a pair of adjacent P-type semiconductor elements and N-type semiconductor elements of the P-type semiconductor element row and the N-type semiconductor element row. The second electrode means includes a plurality of electrodes for connecting the P-type semiconductor element and the N-type semiconductor element in the diagonal relationship with each other in the pair of the P-type semiconductor element row and the N-type semiconductor element row. It is desirable to have.

The first electrode means and the second electrode means comprise a substrate made of an electrically insulating material and the electrodes mounted on the surface of the substrate. Further, the first electrode means and the second electrode means are composed of a releasable sheet member and the electrodes detachably mounted on the surface of the sheet member. Further, one of the first electrode means and the second electrode means is composed of a substrate made of an electrically insulating material and the electrode mounted on the surface of the substrate, and the other is peelable. A sheet member and the electrodes detachably mounted on the surface of the sheet member.

According to the present invention, a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are arranged in columns and rows. A method for manufacturing a thermomodule, wherein a semiconductor element and an N-type semiconductor element are connected in series by a first electrode means and a second electrode means, wherein the P-type semiconductor element block and the N-type semiconductor element block are A semiconductor element block arranging step of alternately arranging and connecting to the first electrode means;
The P-type semiconductor element block and the N-type semiconductor element block disposed on the first electrode means are cut at predetermined intervals in the row direction to form a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements. Dividing the semiconductor element into blocks; dividing the plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and the plurality of N-type semiconductor elements into second blocks;
And a connecting step of connecting said electrode means.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a thermomodule constructed according to the present invention and a method of manufacturing the same will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a thermo module configured according to the present invention. The thermo module shown in FIG. 1 has a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements 2a.
And N-type semiconductor element rows 3 having a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements 3a are alternately arranged at a predetermined interval. The element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a are sandwiched between the first electrode means 4 and the second electrode means 5, and are respectively connected in series. In the thermo module configured as above, only the P-type semiconductor element 2a or the N-type semiconductor element 3a is arranged in the row direction indicated by the arrow X, and the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element are arranged in the column direction indicated by the arrow Y. The semiconductor elements 3a are alternately arranged.

The first electrode means 4 comprises a substrate 41 made of an electrically insulating material and an electrode 42 mounted on the surface of the substrate 41, as shown in FIG. The substrate 41 is formed in a rectangular shape using ceramics such as alumina and aluminum nitride. The electrode 42 is mounted on the surface of the substrate 41 thus formed. The electrode 42 is patterned by a known photolithography technique. In the illustrated embodiment, the electrode 42 is connected to the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 2a that are adjacent to each other for each pair of adjacent P-type semiconductor element rows 2 and N-type semiconductor element rows 3 in the thermomodule shown in FIG. It is formed so as to connect the mold semiconductor elements 3a.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second electrode means 5 includes a substrate 51 made of an electrically insulating material, and electrodes 52 and 53 mounted on the surface of the substrate 51.
The substrate 41 is formed in a rectangular shape using ceramics such as alumina and aluminum nitride. An electrode 52 and an electrode 53 are provided on the surface of the substrate 51 thus formed. The electrode 52 is formed so as to connect the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a which are located in a diagonal relationship in a pair of the adjacent P-type semiconductor element rows 2 and N-type semiconductor element rows 3 respectively. . The electrode 53 is an N-type semiconductor element 3a or a P-type semiconductor element 2a that is not connected by the electrode 42 at both ends in the row direction indicated by the arrow X.
And another pair of adjacent P-type semiconductor elements 2a or N-type semiconductor elements 3a. Also,
At both corners of the substrate 51, lead wires 54 and 55 are provided at positions corresponding to the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a provided at the corners.

The first electrode means 4 configured as described above
And the second electrode means 5, the electrodes 42, the electrodes 54 and 55, and the leads 54 and 55 are connected to the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a by brazing. The thermo module configured in this manner includes a plurality of P
Since the P-type semiconductor element rows 2 provided with the type semiconductor elements 2a and the N-type semiconductor element rows 3 provided with a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements 3a are alternately arranged at predetermined intervals, all Compared with a conventional thermo module in which P-type semiconductor elements and N-type semiconductor elements are alternately arranged, the arrangement work becomes easier, and the productivity can be improved.

Next, another embodiment of the thermo module configured according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the thermo module shown in FIG. 4, the arrangement of the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a is the same as that of the thermo module shown in FIG. 1, but the first electrode means 4 and the second electrode means 5 are different. are doing. That is, the first electrode means 4 and the second electrode means 5 are
1 is constituted by a peelable sheet member. Substrates 411 and 51 made of this peelable sheet member
The electrode 42, the electrodes 54 and 55, and the lead wires 54 and 55 are mounted on the surface of the device 1. The first electrode means 4 and the second electrode means 5 configured as described above are connected to each electrode 4
2 and each of the electrodes 54 and 55, and the lead wires 54 and 55 are bonded to the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a by brazing, and then the substrates 411 and 511 made of a releasable sheet member are peeled off. Is configured. The thermo module in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 includes substrates 411 and 51 made of a peelable sheet member constituting the first electrode means 4 and the second electrode means 5.
1 can be used in a state where the electrode 42 and the electrodes 54 and 55 are exposed by exfoliating 1, so that the heat transfer efficiency can be improved.

Next, still another embodiment of the thermo module configured according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the thermo module shown in FIG. 5, the arrangement of the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a is the same as that of the thermo module shown in FIG. 1, but the substrate 41 of the first electrode means 4 is made of alumina, aluminum nitride or the like. Of the second electrode means 5
Reference numeral 11 is formed of a peelable sheet member.
The electrodes 42, the electrodes 54 and 55, and the lead wires 54 and 55 are mounted on the surface of the substrate 41 made of ceramics and the substrate 511 made of a releasable sheet member.
The first electrode means 4 and the second electrode means 5 configured as described above include the electrodes 42 mounted on the substrate 41 made of ceramics and the electrodes 54 mounted on the substrate 511 made of a peelable sheet member. , 55, lead wire 54,
55 is bonded to the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a by brazing, and then the substrate 511 made of a peelable sheet member is peeled off to form a thermo module. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, an example is shown in which the substrate of the first electrode means 4 is formed of ceramics, and the substrate of the second electrode means 5 is formed of a peelable sheet member. The substrate of the electrode means 4 may be formed of a peelable sheet member, and the substrate of the second electrode means 5 may be formed of ceramics. The thermo module in the embodiment shown in FIG.
Is formed of ceramics,
Since the substrate 511 constituting the second electrode means 5 is made of a peelable sheet member, the substrate made of this peelable sheet member can be peeled off and the electrodes 54 and 55 can be used in a state where they are exposed. The heat transfer efficiency can be improved while securing the rigidity by the ceramic substrate 41.

Next, a method of manufacturing the above-described thermo module will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 6A, a plurality of P-type semiconductor element blocks 20 and a plurality of N-type semiconductor element blocks 30, a first electrode means 4 and a second electrode means 5 are prepared. I do. The P-type semiconductor element block 20 is formed by cutting an ingot made of a bismuth, tellurium, and antimony crystal into a plate shape. The N-type semiconductor element block 30 is formed by cutting an ingot made of a bismuth, tellurium, and selenium crystal into a plate shape. Note that the first electrode means 4 and the second electrode means 5 may have the same configuration as those used in the above-described embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 5.

After the P-type semiconductor element block 20 and the N-type semiconductor element block 30 and the first electrode means 4 and the second electrode means 5 are prepared, as shown in FIG. The block 20 for the P-type semiconductor element and the block 3 for the N-type semiconductor element are provided on the surface of the substrate 41 constituting the means 4.
0s are alternately arranged. At this time, each pair of the P-type semiconductor element block 20 and the N-type semiconductor element block 30 is placed on the electrodes 42 arranged in the row direction indicated by the arrow X. In this manner, the P-type semiconductor element blocks 20 and the N-type semiconductor element blocks 30 are alternately arranged on the surface of the substrate 41 constituting the first electrode means 4, and the P-type semiconductor element blocks 20 and the N-type Block 30 for semiconductor element
And the electrode 42 are connected by brazing (semiconductor element block disposing step).

In the step of arranging blocks for semiconductor elements,
P-type semiconductor element blocks 20 and N-type semiconductor element blocks 30
Are alternately arranged and connected, and are set on the chuck table 11 of the dicing apparatus so that the X direction (row direction) and the axial direction of the cutting blade 12 coincide with each other as shown in FIG. 6C. . Then, the step of relatively moving the chuck table 11 and the cutting blade 12 in the Y direction (row direction) and the step of indexing the cutting blade 12 by a predetermined amount in the X direction are repeatedly executed, whereby the P-type semiconductor element block 20 is obtained. And the N-type semiconductor element block 30 are cut at predetermined intervals, and divided into a P-type semiconductor element 2a and an N-type semiconductor element 3a (semiconductor element block division step). The cutting position at this time is set to a position corresponding to between the electrodes 42. If the cutting depth of the cutting blade 12 is set at a position where the electrode 42 is cut, the electrode 42 is formed continuously in the X direction (row direction), and the P-type semiconductor element block 20 and the N-type semiconductor element The electrode 42 can be divided at the same time when the block 30 is cut. The P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a divided in this manner
A type semiconductor element row 3 is formed.

Next, the second electrode means 5 is connected to the upper surfaces of the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a divided in the semiconductor element block dividing step in the above-described manner (connection step). That is, in the second electrode means 5, the electrodes 54 and 55 and the lead wires 54 and 55 are connected to the P-type semiconductor element 2a and the N-type semiconductor element 3a by brazing. Note that the first electrode means 4 and / or the second
When the substrate constituting the electrode means 5 is formed of a peelable sheet member, the substrate formed of the peelable sheet member is peeled after the second electrode means 5 is combined.

As described above, the manufacturing method of the thermo module in the illustrated embodiment is such that the P-type semiconductor element block 20 and the N-type semiconductor element block 20 are formed on the surface of the substrate 41 constituting the first electrode means 4.
Type semiconductor element blocks 30 are alternately arranged and connected,
This dicing device cuts at a predetermined interval and divides the semiconductor device into a P-type semiconductor element 2a and an N-type semiconductor element 3a. Therefore, compared with a conventional thermo module in which all P-type semiconductor elements and N-type semiconductor elements are alternately arranged. In addition, the arrangement work becomes extremely easy, and the productivity can be dramatically improved.

[0022]

The thermomodule and the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention are constructed as described above, and have the following effects.

That is, the thermo module according to the present invention comprises:
A P-type semiconductor element row including a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements;
Since N-type semiconductor element rows having a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are alternately arranged at a predetermined interval, all the P-type semiconductor elements are arranged.
The arrangement work becomes easier than the conventional thermo module in which the type semiconductor element and the N type semiconductor element are alternately arranged,
Productivity can be improved. In the method for manufacturing a thermo module according to the present invention, the P-type semiconductor element block and the N-type semiconductor element block are alternately arranged and connected to the first electrode means.
The block for type semiconductor elements is cut at predetermined intervals in the row direction and divided into a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements, so that all P-type semiconductor elements and N-type semiconductor elements are alternately arranged. The arrangement work becomes extremely easy as compared with the conventional thermo module to be provided, and the productivity can be remarkably improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a thermo module configured according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of first electrode means constituting the thermo module shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second electrode unit included in the thermo module shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the thermo module configured according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the thermo module configured according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a thermomodule manufacturing process according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventionally used thermo module.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2: P-type semiconductor element row 2a: P-type semiconductor element 20: P-type semiconductor element block 3: N-type semiconductor element row 30: N-type semiconductor element block 3a: N-type semiconductor element 4: First electrode means 41 : Substrate (ceramics) 411: substrate (peelable sheet member) 42: electrode 5: second electrode means 51: substrate (ceramics) 511: substrate (peelable sheet member) 52, 53: electrodes 54, 55: Lead wire 11: Chuck table 12: Cutting blade

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are arranged in columns and rows, and the P-type semiconductor element and the N-type semiconductor element are connected to a first electrode means. And the second
In the thermo module sandwiched by the electrode means, a P-type semiconductor element row composed of a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and an N-type semiconductor element row composed of a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are alternately arranged at predetermined intervals. And the plurality of P
A thermoelectric module, wherein the semiconductor element and the plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are connected in series by the first electrode means and the second electrode means. 2. The first electrode means comprises a plurality of electrodes for connecting a pair of adjacent P-type and N-type semiconductor elements of the P-type semiconductor element row and the N-type semiconductor element row, respectively. And the second electrode means includes a pair of P-type semiconductor element rows and N-type semiconductor element rows which are in a diagonal relationship with each other.
The thermo module according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of electrodes for connecting the semiconductor element and the N-type semiconductor element. 3. A thermostat according to claim 1, wherein said first electrode means and said second electrode means comprise a substrate made of ceramics and said electrodes mounted on the surface of said substrate. module. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first electrode means and said second electrode means comprise a peelable sheet member and said electrode detachably mounted on a surface of said sheet member. Or the thermomodule according to 2. 5. The first electrode means and the second electrode means, one of which is composed of a substrate made of ceramics and the electrode mounted on the surface of the substrate, and the other is peelable. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet member and the electrode detachably mounted on the surface of the sheet member.
Or the thermomodule according to 2. 6. A plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and a plurality of N-type semiconductor elements are arranged in columns and rows, and said P-type semiconductor element and said N-type semiconductor element are connected to a first electrode means. And the second
A method for manufacturing a thermo module, which is connected in series by said electrode means, wherein a P-type semiconductor element block and an N-type semiconductor element block are alternately arranged and connected to said first electrode means. A block disposing step; cutting the P-type semiconductor element block and the N-type semiconductor element block disposed on the first electrode means at a predetermined interval in a row direction and forming a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and a plurality of P-type semiconductor elements; A semiconductor element block dividing step of dividing the semiconductor device into N-type semiconductor elements, and a connecting step of connecting the second electrode means to the plurality of P-type semiconductor elements and the plurality of N-type semiconductor elements. A method for manufacturing a thermo module.