TED (Thermal Equilibrium Diode) effect is an effect I discovered long ago regarding the instability of diodes near thermal equilibrium. Data is beginning to offer further details of diode instability. Such details is regarding some old facts on a topic I discussed a year or so ago in my email list, Thermoelectric effects. It is a fact that when current flows through a junction, that a temperature gradient begins to form-- the Peltier effect. It is a fact this temperature gradient thus causes an opposing voltage on the current-- Seebeck effect. In my old email list I went into details about the effects on such thermoelectric effects. What I could not determine was how significant this effect is on diodes near thermal equilibrium because diode manufacturing companies do not provide the needed near zero bias thermoelectric coefficients. It now seems possible this could be a main cause for the TED effect. How "possible" remains to be seen. Semiconductors have the highest thermoelectric coefficients of all materials.
Consider the following example. The diode rectifies ambient thermal energy, thus producing a DC current. A temperature gradient begins to form at the junction due to the Peltier effect. The rate at which the temperature gradient rises depends on the amount of mass (diode, the casing, wires, etc.) and the thermal conductivity of such materials. As the temperature gradient increases, so does the opposing voltage produced by Seebeck effect. Now under normal conditions, the temperature gradient would rise to its peak within minutes, but not at power levels ranging from pico to zepto watts. The amount of time required to create a microscopic temperature gradient across the junction on a common diode that's producing atto watts is staggering.
In short, *if* such thermoelectric effects play a significant role in passive diode arrays, then the DC current would slowly come to a near halt. Such thermoelectric effects will *not* prevent the diode from violating the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics! By allowing the diode array to rest (open circuit), the temperature gradients slowly fade away.
Created on 2009-04-29 16:30:39 by EnergyMover
FE diodes, FE Misc devices, Free energy, Free energy devices, Science, Diode, Free energy