US 11,791,143 B2
Small gap device system and method of fabrication
Jared William Schwede, Emeryville, CA (US); Igor Bargatin, Wynnewood, PA (US); Samuel M. Nicaise, Philadelphia, PA (US); Chen Lin, Santa Clara, CA (US); and John Provine, Emeryville, CA (US)
Assigned to Spark Thermionics, Inc., Berkeley, CA (US); and The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (US)
Filed by Spark Thermionics, Inc., Emeryville, CA (US); and The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (US)
Filed on Oct. 8, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/497,342.
Application 17/497,342 is a continuation of application No. 16/044,215, filed on Jul. 24, 2018, granted, now 11,170,984.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/692,512, filed on Jun. 29, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/547,535, filed on Aug. 18, 2017.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/536,202, filed on Jul. 24, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2022/0037138 A1, Feb. 3, 2022
Int. Cl. H01J 45/00 (2006.01)
CPC H01J 45/00 (2013.01) 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A thermionic energy converter system, comprising:
a first electrode comprising a first surface;
a second electrode comprising a second surface; and
a mesh spacer maintaining a gap between the first and second surfaces;
wherein:
the first and second surfaces are arranged facing each other across the gap;
the mesh spacer electrically and thermally isolates the first electrode from the second electrode;
the mesh spacer defines a mesh structure comprising a set of vertices and a set of paths connected between vertices of the set, the set of paths comprising a first path and a second path;
the mesh spacer comprises a set of legs extending substantially along the set of paths, the set of legs comprising:
a first leg extending substantially along the first path, the first leg comprising a first protrusion that contacts the first surface, the first protrusion protruding toward the first surface from a body of the first leg; and
a second leg extending substantially along the second path, the second leg connected to the first leg via the set of legs, wherein the second leg contacts the second surface; and
the mesh spacer defines a plurality of apertures between legs of the set of legs, wherein, for each aperture of the plurality, a respective first surface normal vector from the first surface to the second surface passes through the aperture and does not intersect the mesh spacer.