ANISOTROPIC SYNTHETIC THERMOELEMENTS AND THEIR MAXIMUM CAPABILITIES.

A theoretical analysis is made of the possibility of producing a synthetic material with anisotropic thermoelectric properties superior to those exhibited by the known anisotropic single crystals. Optimization, i. e. , the achievement of the maximum thermoelectric figure of merit, is considered for a system of alternate parallel layers of two conducting materials with different properties. Expressions are obtained for the optimal angle of inclination of the layers with respect to the temperature gradient and for the optimal ratio of the thickness of the layers as a function of the properties of the materials. It is shown that an optimized anisotropic synthetic system of this kind can have the maximum thermoelectric figure of merit equal to the figure of merit of a classical thermoelement composed of the same pair of materials.