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A solid-state energy converter with a semiconductor or semiconductor-metal implementation is provided for conversion of thermal energy to electric energy, or electric energy to refrigeration. In n-type heat-to-electricity embodiments, a highly doped n* emitter region made of a metal or semiconductor

A solid-state energy converter with a semiconductor or semiconductor-metal implementation is provided for conversion of thermal energy to electric energy, or electric energy to refrigeration. In n-type heat-to-electricity embodiments, a highly doped n* emitter region made of a metal or semiconductor injects carriers into an n-type gap region. A p-type layer is positioned between the emitter region and gap region, allowing for discontinuity of corresponding Fermi-levels and forming a potential barrier to sort electrons by energy. Additional p-type layers can optionally be formed on the collector side of the converter. One type of these layers with higher carrier concentration (p*) serves as a blocking layer at the cold side of the converter, and another layer (p**) with carrier concentration close to the gap reduces a thermoelectric back flow component. Ohmic contacts on both sides of the device close the electrical circuit through an external load to convert heat to electricity. In the case of a refrigerator, the external load is substituted by an external power supply.

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What is claimed is: 1. A solid state energy converter with n-type conductivity, comprising: an emitter region in thermal communication with a hot heat exchange surface, the emitter region comprising an n-type region with donor concentration n* for electron emission; a p-type barrier layer with acce

What is claimed is: 1. A solid state energy converter with n-type conductivity, comprising: an emitter region in thermal communication with a hot heat exchange surface, the emitter region comprising an n-type region with donor concentration n* for electron emission; a p-type barrier layer with acceptor concentration p* in contact with the emitter region; and and a segmented gap region in contact with the p-type barrier layer and comprising a first layer of an n-type semiconductor material, and a second layer of a different highly n-doped semiconductor material, the second layer reducing heat flow density, wherein the p-type barrier layer provides a potential barrier and a Fermi level discontinuity between the emitter region and the segmented nap region. 2. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, further comprising a collector region in thermal communication with a cold heat exchange surface, the collector region being in electrical and thermal communication with the gap region. 3. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, wherein the gap region is adjacent to the collector region. 4. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, further comprising a first ohmic contact in electrical communication with the emitter region. 5. The solid state energy converter of claim 4, further comprising a second ohmic contact in electrical communication with the collector region. 6. The solid state energy converter of claim 5, wherein the first and second ohmic contacts close an electrical circuit through an external load for heat to electricity conversion. 7. The solid state energy converter of claim 5, wherein the first and second ohmic contacts close an electrical circuit through an external power source for electricity to refrigeration conversion. 8. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, wherein the emitter region comprises a metal or a highly doped semiconductor. 9. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, wherein the p* doping concentration of the p-type barrier layer relates to the n doping concentration of the gap region as pi>ni (m*p/m*n), where m*p is the effective mass of holes, m*n is the effective mass of electrons, and subscript i denotes ionized fraction of carriers at a given temperature. 10. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, wherein the collector region comprises an additional injection barrier layer with a carrier concentration p** that is adjacent to the gap region to reduce a thermoelectric back flow component. 11. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, wherein the collector region comprises an additional compensation layer with acceptor concentration p* serving as a blocking layer at the cold side of the converter, and the acceptor concentration p* being the same as the donor concentration in the gap region. 12. The solid state energy converter of claim 2, wherein the collector region comprises two p-type layers, one layer with a carrier concentration p* serving as a blocking layer at the cold side of the converter, and the other layer with a carrier concentration p** serving as an additional injection barrier layer and being adjacent to the gap region to reduce a thermoelectric back flow component. 13. The solid state energy converter of claim 10, wherein the p** doping concentration of the additional injection barrier layer relates to the n doping concentration of the gap region as pi> ni(m*p/m*n), where m*p is the effective mass of holes, m*n is the effective mass of electrons, and subscript i denotes ionized fraction of carriers at a given temperature. 14. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, further comprising a first ohmic contact in electrical communication with the emitter region. 15. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, further comprising a second ohmic contact in electrical communication with the gap region. 16. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, wherein the first layer is at least 1 electron scattering length wide. 17. The solid state energy converter of claim 1, wherein the first layer is at least 5 electron scattering lengths wide. 18. A solid state energy converter with p-type conductivity, comprising: an emitter region in thermal communication with a hot heat exchange surface, the emitter region comprising a p-type region with acceptor concentration p* for hole emission; a semiconductor gap region with a donor doping p, the gap region in electrical and thermal communication with the emitter region; wherein the gap region is segmented and comprises a first layer of a p-type semiconductor material and a second layer of a different highly doped p-type semiconductor material; and an n-type barrier layer with donor concentration n* in contact with the emitter region and with the gap region, the n-type barrier layer providing a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region. 19. The solid state energy converter of claim 18, further comprising a collector region in thermal communication with a cold heat exchange surface, the collector region being in electrical and thermal communication with the gap region. 20. The solid state energy converter of claim 19, wherein the gap region is adjacent to the collector region. 21. The solid state energy converter of claim 19, further comprising a first ohmic contact in electrical communication with the emitter region. 22. The solid state energy converter of claim 21, further comprising a second ohmic contact in electrical communication with the collector region. 23. The solid state energy converter of claim 22, wherein the first and second ohmic contacts close an electrical circuit through an external load for heat to electricity conversion. 24. The solid state energy converter of claim 22, wherein the first and second ohmic contacts close an electrical circuit through an external power source for electricity to refrigeration conversion. 25. The solid state energy converter of claim 18, wherein the gap region is at least 1 carrier scattering length wide. 26. The solid state energy converter of claim 18, wherein the gap region is at least 5 carrier scattering lengths wide. 27. A solid state energy converter, comprising: a thermal diode stack comprising: a first diode with a design structure of n*/p/n on a hot side of the converter, the n* representing a n-type emitter region with a donor concentration n*, the p representing a p-type barrier region with an acceptor concentration p, and n representing a n-type segmented gap region with a donor concentration n and comprising a first layer of an n-type semiconductor material and a second layer of a different highly doped n-type semiconductor material, wherein the barrier layer is configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region; a plurality of diodes having the same structure as the first diode and connected with the first diode; and an n* layer that terminates the plurality of diodes on a cold side of the converter. 28. A solid state energy converter, comprising: a thermal diode stack comprising: a first diode with a design structure of n*/p/n/pc, on a hot side of the converter, the n* representing an n-type emitter region with a donor concentration n*, the p representing a p-type barrier region with an acceptor concentration p, the n representing a segmented n-type gap region with a donor concentration n and comprising a first layer of an n-type semiconductor material and a second layer of a different highly doped n-type semiconductor material, and the pc representing a p-type compensation layer acting as a collector blocking barrier with acceptor concentration p*, wherein the barrier layer is configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region; and a plurality of diodes having the same structure as the first diode that terminate on a cold side of the converter with an n* layer. 29. A solid state energy converter, comprising: a thermal diode stack comprising: a first diode with a design structure of n*/p/n/pi on a hot side of the converter, the n* representing an n-type emitter region with a donor concentration n*, the p representing a p-type barrier region with an acceptor concentration p, the n representing a segmented n-type gap region with a donor concentration n and comprising a first layer of an n-type semiconductor material and a second layer of a different highly doped n-type semiconductor material, and the pi representing an additional p-type barrier region with an acceptor concentration p**, wherein the barrier layer is configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region; and a plurality of diodes having the same structure as the first diode that terminate on a cold side of the converter with an n* layer. 30. A solid state energy converter, comprising: a thermal diode stack comprising: a first diode with a design structure of n*/p/n/pi/pc on a hot side of the converter, the n* representing a n-type emitter region with a donor concentration n*, the p representing a p-type barrier region with an acceptor concentration p, the n representing a n-type gap region with a donor concentration n, the pi representing an additional p-type barrier region with a donor concentration p**, and the pc, representing a p-type compensation layer acting as a collector blocking barrier with a donor concentration of p*, wherein the barrier layer is configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region; and a plurality of diodes having the same structure as the first diode that terminate on a cold side of the converter with an n* layer. 31. A method for converting thermal energy to electric energy, or electric energy to refrigeration, comprising: injecting carriers into an n-type gap region from a highly doped n* emitter region through a p-type barrier layer positioned between the emitter region and the gap region, wherein: the barrier layer is configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region; and the gap region is segmented and comprises a first layer of an n-type semiconductor material and a second layer of a different highly doped n-type semiconductor material; allowing for discontinuity of corresponding Fermi-levels; and forming a potential barrier to sort electrons by energy. 32. A method for converting thermal energy to electric energy, or electric energy to refrigeration, comprising: injecting carriers into a p-type gap region from a highly doped p* emitter region through an n-type barrier layer positioned between the emitter region and the gap region, wherein: the barrier layer is configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region; and the gap region is segmented and comprises a first layer of an n-type semiconductor material and a second layer of a different highly doped n-type semiconductor material; allowing for discontinuity of corresponding Fermi-levels; and forming a potential barrier to sort electrons by energy. 33. A solid state energy converter, comprising: a thermal diode stack comprising: a first diode with a design structure of p*/n/p/ni/nc on a hot side of the converter, the p* representing p-type emitter region with an acceptor concentration p*, the n representing an n-type barrier region with a donor concentration n, the p representing a p-type gap region with an acceptor concentration p, the ni representing an additional n-type barrier region with a donor concentration n**, and the nc, representing an n-type compensation layer acting as a collector blocking barrier with a donor concentration of n*, wherein the barrier layer is configured to provide a potential barrier and Fermi-level discontinuity between the emitter region and the gap region; and a plurality of diodes having the same structure as the first diode that terminate on a cold side of the converter with a p* layer.