The paper deals with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) facilitating voltage conversion in thermoelectric energy harvesters. The chip is intended to be used to boost up the voltage coming from a thermoelectric module to a level that is required by electronic circuits constituting wireless sensor nodes. The designed charge pump does not need any external parts for its proper operation because all the capacitors, switches and oscillator are integrated on the common silicon die. The topography of the main functional blocks and post-layout simulations of the designed integrated circuit are shown in the article.

The paper analyzes the phenomenon of heat transfer and its inertia in solids. The influence of this effect on the operation of an integrated circuit is described. The phenomenon is explained using thermal analogy implemented in the Spice environment by an R-C thermal model. Results from the model are verified by some measurements with a chip designed in CMOS 0.7 μm (5 V) technology. The microcontroller-based measurement system structure and experiment results are described.