NOVELTY - The thermoelement (100) has a composite thermoelectric layer (102) i.e. hemispherical thermoelectric layer, and a high power factor electrode (104) thermally and electrically attached to a side of the thermoelectric layer. Another high power factor electrode (106) is thermally and electrically attached to another side of the thermoelectric layer. A pair of metal layers (108, 110) made of a refractory metal is attached to the electrodes. The electrodes are made of Kondo intermetallics or semiconductors with magnitude of Seebeck coefficient greater than 50 micro Volts per Kelvin.    USE - Thermoelement e.g. thin film thermoelement, n-type thermoelement and p-type thermoelement, for use in an energy converter device i.e. thermoelectric energy converter, for converting electrical energy into cooling effect in a cooling application e.g. refrigeration application, air conditioning application, battery cooling application and distillation application, and for recovering thermal energy and generating thermoelectric power in a power generation application e.g. gas turbine exhaust combustion generator, concentrated solar application and hybrid solar application. Can also be used for an energy recovery application e.g. electricity generating application from automobile exhausts, diesel generator and fuel cell exhaust or steam power plant.    ADVANTAGE - The thermoelement, having a high figure of merit and coefficient of performance (COP) for the cooling and power generation applications, is achieved by reducing losses at an interface of a thermoelectric material and the electrodes. The thermoelement with high efficiency energy conversion can be inexpensively manufactured and mass-produced.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is also included for a method for manufacturing a thermoelement.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The drawing shows a cross-sectional view of a thermoelement.    Thermoelement (100)    Composite thermoelectric layer (102)    High power factor electrodes (104, 106)    Metal layers (108, 110)