We identify the operational conditions for maximum power of a nanothermoelectric engine consisting of a single quantum level embedded between two leads at different temperatures and chemical potentials. The corresponding thermodynamic efficiency agrees with the Curzon-Ahlborn expression up to quadratic terms in the gradients, supporting the thesis of universality beyond linear response.
@article{arxiv.0808.0216,
title = {Thermoelectric efficiency at maximum power in a quantum dot},
author = {Massimiliano Esposito and Katja Lindenberg and Christian Van den Broeck},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0808.0216},
year = {2010}
}