A thermoelectric cooler (TEC) uses an electric current to transfer heat across a junction of two different materials. Applying a DC voltage causes one side of the ceramic plate to get cold while the other side gets hot. Engineers use them for precise temperature control in laser diodes, optical sensors, and overclocked processors where active sub-ambient cooling is required.
We need to mount a TEC under the sensor array to keep the noise floor down during long exposures.
The hot side of a TEC must be aggressively cooled with a heatsink; otherwise, the heat will bleed back across the junction and cook the component you are trying to chill.
Also heard as
- Peltier cooler
- thermoelectric cooler
Related terms
TIM
A time interval meter, an instrument used to measure the precise time elapsed between two events.
Thermal design power
The maximum amount of heat a cooling system must be able to dissipate from a chip under typical heavy workloads.
CPU
The central processing unit is the primary logic chip that executes instructions and coordinates system operations.