Contact resistance in spark plasma sintered segmented legs

A method for measuring the contact resistances of segmented thermoelectric legs is developed. The sensitivity of the method is 2 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ $\Omega$ cm$^{2}$. The contact resistances of junctions upon switching between different segments of thermoelectric materials are measured. Both junctions and materials of the segments are produced by various methods. The determined contact resistances are in the range of 0.8–3.5 $\Omega$ cm$^2$. Estimations show that the efficiency loss for a 4-segment leg $\sim$1 cm high at such contact resistances is no more than 5% in the worst case.