Materials capable of highly efficient, direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion would have substantial economic potential. Theory predicts that thermoelectric efficiencies approaching the Carnot limit can be achieved at low temperatures in one-dimensional conductors that contain an energy filter such as a double-barrier resonant tunneling structure. The recent advances in growth techniques suggest that such devices can now be realized in heterostructured, semiconductor nanowires. Here we propose specific structural parameters for InAs/InP nanowires that may allow the experimental observation of near-Carnot efficient thermoelectric energy conversion in a single nanowire at low temperature.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0601110,
title = {Concept study for a high-efficiency nanowire-based thermoelectric},
author = {M. F. O'Dwyer and T. E. Humphrey and H. Linke},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0601110},
year = {2009}
}