Work

Ballistic thermoelectric transport in structured nanowires

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Thermoelectric (TE) devices are solid-state energy converters that can be used for power generation through the Seebeck effect and TE cooling through the Peltier effect. Nanostructures give great opportunities to engineer TE energy conversion efficiency. In this work, we investigate TE transport properties in structured nanowires (NWs) in the ballistic transport regime, where the NWs are bent, kinked, stubbed and segmented like a superlattice nanowire using the Green's function method and the Landauer–Büttiker formula. A large Seebeck coefficient is found when the transmission gap appears due to the quantum interference effect of electrons. The sign of the Seebeck coefficient can be controlled by the geometries of these structured NWs. This finding is helpful for the design of nanoscale TE devices, such as thermocouple, with the same type of material doping rather than those comprised of n -type and p -type materials.

Source: New Journal of Physics

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/16/6/065018

Authors: Biao Wang, Jun Zhou, Ronggui Yang, Baowen Li

Institutions: Tongji University, University of Colorado Boulder, National University of Singapore

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices

Subfield: Materials Chemistry

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,610

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, Air Force Office of Scientific Research