Demand for high current and power in integrated circuits
and power electronics has increased dramatically in
recent years. Cooling of such electronic devices is a challenge,
and will become even more difficult as level of device
integration continue to increase. Various schemes of cooling
have been proposed and researched to address this challenge,1–3
among them, thermionic cooling is intrinsically
simple and potentially efficient.4–8 A thermionic cooler consists
of no moving parts but only a cathode and an anode.
Thermionic cooling occurs when energetic hot electrons
emit from the cathode surface, thus carry energy away and
cool the cathode.