Related papers: Thermoelectric Energy Conversion: How Good Can Sil…

Decreasing thermal conductivity is important for designing efficient thermoelectric devices. Traditional engineering strategies have focused on point defects and interface design. Recently, dislocations as line defects have emerged as a new…

Highly oriented polymer films can show considerable anisotropy in the thermoelectric properties leading to power factors beyond those predicted by the widely obeyed power law linking the thermopower $S$ and the electrical conductivity…

Thermoelectric materials, which can convert waste heat into electricity or act as solid-state Peltier coolers, are emerging as key technologies to address global energy shortages and environmental sustainability. However, discovering…

The terahertz (THz) properties of ZrN thin films grown with CMOS-techniques on industry-standard 300 mm silicon wafers are investigated in order to explore their superconducting behavior. The films have thicknesses ranging from 18 to 48 nm,…

The electrical conductance of molecular beam epitaxial Bi on BaF2(111) was measured as a function of both film thickness (4-540 nm) and temperature (5-300 K). Unlike bulk Bi as a prototype semimetal, the Bi thin films up to 90 nm are found…

At the ultra-thin limit below 20 nm, a film's electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, or thermoelectricity depends heavily on its thickness. In most studies, each sample is fabricated one at a time, potentially leading to…

The thermoelectric figure of merit ZT, which is defined using electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity, and absolute temperature T, has been widely used as a simple estimator of the conversion efficiency of a…

We propose a new concept for the design of high-efficiency photocells based on ultra-thin (submicron) semiconductor films of controlled thickness. Using a microscopic model of a thin dielectric layer interacting with incident…

In this paper we present the temperature-dependent emissivity of a silicon sample, estimated from its cool-down curve in a constant low temperature environment ($\approx$ 82K). The emissivity value follow a linear dependency in the 120-260…

A systematic study was performed to measure the effective thermal conductivity of ceramic particle beds, a promising heat transfer and thermal energy storage media for concentrating solar power (CSP). The thermal conductivity of the ceramic…

High temperature polymeric materials for electrical insulation and energy storage are needed for transformational power applications such as pulsed-power and hyrid electrical vehicles. One of the candidate materials has been polyetherimide,…

The cooling of two-dimensional electrons in silicon-metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors is studied experimentally. Cooling to the lattice is found to be more effective than expected from the bulk electron-phonon coupling in…

The electronic properties of interfaces between two different solids can differ strikingly from those of the constituent materials. For instance, metallic conductivity, and even superconductivity, have been recently discovered at interfaces…

Inherent properties of superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x films, such as the high superconducting transition temperature Tc, efficient Josephson coupling between neighboring CuO layers, and fast quasiparticle relaxation dynamics, make them a…

Nano-scaled metallic or dielectric structures may provide various ways to trap light into thin-film solar cells for improving the conversion efficiency. In most schemes, the textured active layers are involved into light trapping structures…

We report on the elaboration of germanium manganese nanostructured thin films and the measurement of their thermoelectric properties. We investigate the growth of Ge:Mn layers along with a thorough structural characterization of this…

Thermionic energy conversion (TEC) using nano materials is an emerging field of research. Graphene can stand high temperature as high as 4600 K in vacuum. Its work function can be engineered from its high value (for monolayer/bilayer) 4.6…

The unique properties of plastic crystals highlight their potential for use in solid-state refrigeration. However, their practical applications are limited by thermal hysteresis due to low thermal conductivity. In this study, the effect of…

The thermo-electrical properties of a complex silicon cantilever structure used in thermal scanning probe lithography are modeled based on well established empirical laws for the thermal conductivity in silicon, the electrical conductivity…

High electric conductivity ~100 MegaSiemens/m and Seebeck coefficient >200 mkV/K of carbon nanotubes (CNT) make them attractive for a variety of applications. Unfortunately, a high thermal conductivity ~ 3000 W/(m*K) due to the phonon…