APL and Samsung Demonstrate CHESS Thermoelectrics That Double Cooling Efficiency

Researchers have demonstrated a manufacturable thin‑film thermoelectric technology that substantially improves solid‑state refrigeration performance and promises a scalable alternative to compressor‑based cooling.

The team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), working with refrigeration engineers from Samsung Research, developed materials, known as controlled hierarchically engineered super-lattice structures (CHESS). 

These materials deliver nearly 100% better material-level efficiency at room temperature than commercially available bulk thermoelectric materials. This translates to roughly a 70–75% efficiency improvement at module and system levels in validated refrigerator tests. 

The results were reported in a paper published in Nature Communications and validated through collaboration with Samsung Research’s Life Solution Team.

CHESS thin films are produced using metal‑organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), a semiconductor fabrication technique already used in high‑volume industries. Because the films require only microscopic volumes of material, around 0.003 cubic centimetres per refrigeration unit, the technology is compatible with existing chip‑scale manufacturing, offering a route to low‑cost, large‑scale production.

“This real-world demonstration of refrigeration using new thermoelectric materials showcases the capabilities of nano-engineered CHESS thin films,” said principal investigator of the joint project and chief technologist for thermoelectrics at APL, Rama Venkatasubramanian. 

“It marks a significant leap in cooling technology and sets the stage for translating advances in thermoelectric materials into practical, large-scale, energy-efficient refrigeration applications”.

Practical benefits demonstrated include:

• Near‑doubling of material efficiency at ≈25°C (room temperature).
• ~75% module‑level efficiency gains and ~70% system‑level gains in integrated refrigeration tests versus state‑of‑the‑art bulk devices.
• Very small active material volumes, enabling chip‑scale fabrication and material cost reductions.
• Elimination of moving parts and refrigerant chemicals, opening quieter, more reliable, and environmentally friendlier cooling solutions.

“MOCVD is already widely used commercially, making it ideal for scaling up CHESS thin‑film thermoelectric materials production,” said Jon Pierce, who leads MOCVD growth capability at APL.

APL and Samsung’s collaboration modelled real‑world heat loads and thermal resistances to ensure the performance gains were not limited to lab scale but held up in commercial‑type refrigeration systems. 

The CHESS materials were initially developed at APL over a decade for defence and medical cooling applications, and have already been applied in niche cooling therapies and R&D work.

“Beyond refrigeration, CHESS materials are also able to convert temperature differences, like body heat, into usable power,” said Jeff Maranchi of APL.

These prospects include harvesting waste heat, powering electronics from temperature differentials, compact HVAC modules, and integration into larger building HVAC systems if further scale‑up delivers comparable performance and cost advantages. 

APL says next steps include scaling demonstrations to larger refrigeration and freezer systems, pursuing industrial partnerships for manufacturing scale‑up and exploring AI‑driven optimisation for distributed or compartmentalised cooling. 

“The success of this collaborative effort demonstrates that high‑efficiency solid‑state refrigeration is not only scientifically viable but manufacturable at scale,” said APL’s technology commercialisation manager, Susan Ehrlich.

If commercialised successfully, CHESS‑based thermoelectric systems could reduce the energy footprint of cooling across consumer, commercial and industrial markets, remove reliance on harmful refrigerants and enable new product form factors where compressors are impractical.

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