Jared Schwede, CEO
'15 PhD Physics

Spark Thermionics is developing a "power plant on a chip," a thermionic energy converter that can turn any fuel into electricity very efficiently and with no moving parts. In a thermionic energy converter (TEC), electrons evaporate from a hot cathode into a vacuum gap and are collected by a cooler anode, generating current. In the ‘60s, researchers reported TECs with conversion efficiencies of ~15%, power densities above 10 W/cm2, and lifetimes over 5 years. However, after the end of major research into space-nuclear power in 1973, thermionics received limited interest. Today, this creates the opportunity to apply decades of developments in materials and microfabrication to thermionic technology.

Spark was founded by Stanford alums with PhDs in next-gen thermionic principles, and the company’s collaboration features world leaders in microelectromechanical systems and thermionic materials. As part of the Cyclotron Road program, Spark is fully supported at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to translate thermionic technology from academic proof-of-principle to prototype development and commercialization.

• https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/10/14/progress-administrations-clean-energy-investment-initiative
• https://tomkat.stanford.edu/innovation-transfer/spark-thermionics