Related papers: Quantum coherent three-terminal thermoelectrics: m…
One of the principal objectives of quantum thermodynamics is to explore quantum effects and their potential beneficial role in thermodynamic tasks like work extraction or refrigeration. So far, even though several papers have already shown…
The wave-like nature of electrons leads to the existence of upper bounds on the thermoelectric response of nanostructured devices [R. S. Whitney, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 130601 (2014); Phys. Rev. B 91, 115425 (2015)]. This fundamental result,…
Carnot's theorem poses a fundamental limit on the maximum efficiency achievable from an engine that works between two reservoirs at thermal equilibrium. We extend this result to the case of arbitrary nonthermal stationary reservoirs, even…
We derive general trade-off relations among the power, efficiency, and constancy for two-terminal thermoelectric systems in the linear response regime. Constancy, which quantifies the steadiness of the heat engine, is measured by its…
We present a detailed study of a three-level quantum heat engine operating at maximum efficient power function, a trade-off objective function defined by the product of the efficiency and power output of the engine. First, for near…
We investigate the role of quantum coherence and higher harmonics resulting from multiple-path interference in nonlinear thermoelectricity in a two-terminal triangular triple-dot Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer. We quantify the trade-off…
For thermoelectric transport in the presence of a magnetic field that breaks time-reversal symmetry, a strong bound on the Onsager coefficients is derived within a general set-up using three terminals. Asymmetric Onsager coefficients lead…
Low-dimensional electronic systems in thermoelectrics have the potential to achieve high thermal-to-electric energy conversion efficiency. A key measure of performance is the efficiency when the device is operated under maximum power…
Following the result by Skrzypczyk et al., arXiv:1009.0865, that certain self-contained quantum thermal machines can reach Carnot efficiency, we discuss the functioning of self-contained quantum thermal machines and show, in a very general…
We investigate a multiterminal mesoscopic conductor in the quantum Hall regime, subject to temperature and voltage biases. The device can be considered as a nonequilibrium resource acting on a working substance. We previously showed that…
The multi-terminal generalization of the steady-state density functional theory for the description of electronic and thermal transport (iq-DFT) is presented. The linear response regime of the framework is developed leading to exact…
Non-equilibrium effects may have a profound impact on the performance of thermal devices performing thermodynamic tasks such as refrigeration or heat pumping. The possibility of enhancing the performance of thermodynamic operations by means…
Three-terminal coherent conductors are able to perform as quantum thermocouples when the heat absorbed from one terminal is transformed into useful power in the other two. Allowing for a phase coherent coupling to the heat source, we…
We derive a bound on the efficiency of thermal engines that can be sharper than Carnot's limit. It is a function of statistical correlations between the engine internal state and Hamiltonian, can be saturated even in finite-time cycles, and…
Classically, the power generated by an ideal thermal machine cannot be larger than the Carnot limit. This profound result is rooted in the second law of thermodynamics. A hot question is whether this bound is still valid for microengines…
We study the minimally nonlinear irreversible heat engines in which the time-reversal symmetry for the systems may b e broken. The expressions for the power and the efficiency are derived, in which the effects of the nonlinear terms due to…
This paper studies the thermal properties of three-terminal mesoscopic dielectric systems in the nonlinear response regime at low temperature. For a symmetric three-terminal system, when the temperature is finitely different between the…
We show that coupled autonomous thermal machines, in the presence of three heat reservoirs and following a global linear-irreversible description, provide a unified framework to accommodate the variety of expressions for the efficiency at…
The energy efficiency and power of a quantum thermoelectric system with multiple electric currents and only one heat currents are studied. The system is connected to the hot heat bath with one terminal but the cold bath with multiple…
We show that for systems with broken time-reversal symmetry the maximum efficiency and the efficiency at maximum power are both determined by two parameters: a "figure of merit" and an asymmetry parameter. In contrast to the time-symmetric…