Flexible Electrode Assembly for Uniform Nanogap Spacing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current designs for devices that require close electrode spacing, such as thermo-tunneling and thermionic devices, face challenges in maintaining a uniform vacuum gap over large areas while being cost-effective and efficient, often relying on complex actuator systems and spacers that can lead to thermal conduction and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
The use of a flexible electrode with a magnetic field to counterbalance electrostatic forces, allowing self-positioning and self-alignment of electrodes to maintain a uniform gap of 0.5 to 200 nanometers without the need for actuators or lossy spacers, utilizing either a magnetic force or a bimetallic assembly to achieve stable equilibrium.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If complex actuator systems and spacers are used to maintain electrode spacing, then electrode gap uniformity is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the complex actuator systems and spacers from the electrode assembly, replacing them with a simple vacuum seal that maintains the electrode gap through atmospheric pressure. This extraction of unnecessary components directly reduces device complexity while preserving gap uniformity through the vacuum environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a vacuum environment as an inert atmosphere to maintain electrode spacing. The vacuum pressure differential across a simple seal provides the force needed to hold electrodes at the correct gap distance, eliminating the need for complex mechanical actuators or spacers while maintaining precise gap uniformity.
2Manufacturing precision
If spacers are used to maintain electrode spacing, then gap uniformity is improved, but thermal conduction increases causing efficiency loss
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum environment serves as a thermal insulator, replacing physical spacers with a pressure-based spacing mechanism. The vacuum prevents thermal conduction through the gap while the pressure differential maintains uniform spacing, simultaneously achieving gap uniformity and reducing thermal energy loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical spacers with a pressure-based system using vacuum. The atmospheric pressure differential across the seal provides the spacing force, eliminating mechanical contact points that would conduct heat, thereby reducing thermal conduction losses while maintaining gap uniformity.
3Temperature
If electrodes are placed close together for tunneling effect, then operating temperature is reduced, but maintaining uniform gap over large area becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum environment provides uniform pressure distribution across large electrode areas, ensuring consistent gap spacing throughout the entire surface. This pressure-based spacing mechanism scales effectively to large areas while maintaining the close proximity needed for tunneling at reduced temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The vacuum seal serves multiple functions simultaneously: it maintains the close electrode spacing needed for tunneling, provides thermal isolation, and ensures gap uniformity across large areas through uniform pressure distribution. This multi-functionality enables the system to achieve close spacing over large areas without compromising precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the design, reduces manufacturing costs, and maintains a uniform gap over large areas, enabling efficient electron tunneling or thermionic emission for heat conversion and refrigeration applications.
Implementation Method 1
The use of a flexible electrode with a magnetic field to counterbalance electrostatic forces
Implementation Method 2
The use of a flexible electrode with a magnetic field to counterbalance electrostatic forces
Implementation Method 3
This type of current flow when the electron clouds are intersecting, but the electrodes are not physically touching, is called tunneling
Implementation Method 4
the physical phenomenon is called thermionic emission
Data Source
AI summary
An improved design for maintaining separation between electrodes in tunneling, resonant tunneling, diode, thermionic, thermo-photovoltaic and other devices is disclosed. At least one electrode 1 is made from flexible material. A magnetic field B is present to combine with the current flowing in the flexible electrode 1 and generate a force or a thermal expansion force combined with a temperature distribution that counterbalances the electrostatic force or other attracting forces between the electrodes. The balancing of forces allows the separation and parallelism between the electrodes to be maintained at a very small spacing without requiring the use of multiple control systems, actuators, or other manipulating means, or spacers. The shape of one or both electrodes 1 is designed to maintain a constant separation over the entire overlapping area of the electrodes, or to minimize a central contact area. The end result is an electronic device that maintains two closely spaced parallel electrodes in stable equilibrium with a uniform gap therebetween over a large area in a simple configuration for simplified manufacturability and use to convert heat to electricity or electricity to cooling.