Three-terminal interface as a thermoelectric generator beyond Seebeck effect
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
2020-07-01 v1
Abstract
We investigate thermoelectric transport through interfaces with inelastic scatterings by developing a quantum theory, which has been extensively validated by existing theories. We find that under temperature bias, while a two-terminal conductor-insulator interface behaves only as a thermal resistor, a three-terminal conductor-insulator-conductor interface can function as an electricity generator caused by phonon-mediated electron scatterings with heat-charge current separation. Unlike conventional thermoelectrics which is a property of a bulk caused by the Seebeck effect, this thermoelectric behavior is a property of an interface driven by electron-phonon scatterings.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1907.01140,
title = {Three-terminal interface as a thermoelectric generator beyond Seebeck effect},
author = {Hangbo Zhou and Gang Zhang and Jian-Sheng Wang and Yong-Wei Zhang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1907.01140},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
6 pages, 5 figures