  Lack of materials which are thermoelectrically efficient and economically
attractive is a challenge in thermoelectricity. Silicon could be a good
thermoelectric material offering CMOS compatibility, harmlessness and cost
reduction but it features a too high thermal conductivity. High harvested power
density of 7W/cm2 at deltaT=30K is modeled based on a thin-film lateral
architecture of thermo-converter that takes advantage of confinement effects to
reduce the thermal conductivity. The simulation leads to the conclusion that
10nm thick Silicon has 10 times higher efficiency than bulk.
