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We have recently put forth several schemes of unconventional, nonlinearly-enabled thermodynamic (TD) devices that can operate in either the classical or the quantum domain by transforming thermal-state input in multiple uncorrelated modes…
Thermoelectricity is the direct conversion of temperature gradient to electric voltage, and vice-versa. There are several potential applications of thermoelectricity, ranging from clean noiseless cooling, to waste-power harvesting in…
A thermoelectric generator converts a temperature difference into electrical energy. Its energy conversion efficiency is determined by the steady-state temperature distribution inside the generator. By assuming the thermoelectric material…
Power and efficiency of heat engines are two conflicting objectives, and a tight efficiency bound is expected to give insights on the fundamental properties of the power-efficiency tradeoff. Here we derive an upper bound on the efficiency…
The three-terminal heat device consisting of a cavity and coupled to a heat bath is established. By tuning the temperatures of the electrodes and the phonon bath, the device can function as a heat engine or a refrigerator. We study the…
In this paper we show how nonlinear internal models can be effectively used in the design of output regulators for nonlinear systems. This result provides a significant enhancement of the non-equilibrium theory for output regulation, which…
The thermoelectric effect is the generation of an electrical voltage from a temperature gradient in a solid material due to the diffusion of free charge carriers from hot to cold. Identifying materials with large thermoelectric response is…
Over the past years, thermionic energy conversion (TEC) with a reduced inter-electrode vacuum gap has been studied as an effective way to mitigate a large potential barrier due to space charge accumulation. However, existing theoretical…
Thermoelectric devices at the nanoscale offer promising routes for on-chip refrigeration and waste-heat recovery, yet most semiconductor-based implementations suffer from limited tunability and narrow operational ranges. We introduce a…
Thin-film thermoelectric generators with a novel folding scheme are proposed for large-area, low energy-density applications. Both the electrical current and heat transfer are in the plane of the thermoelectric thin-film, yet the heat…
In this paper, we examine the power and efficiency of the thermionic device utilizing the Nernst effect, with a specific focus on its potential application as an engine. The device operates by utilizing the vertical heat current to generate…
The methods of non-equilibrium thermodynamics of systems with an interface have been applied to the study of thermionic emission processes in abrupt semiconductor junctions, including the effects of surface states . Our analysis covers…
The efficiency of a thermal engine working in linear response regime in a multi-terminals configuration is discussed. For the generic three-terminal case, we provide a general definition of local and non-local transport coefficients:…
The optimal design of power converters requires accurate knowledge of the dissipation elements of its system to achieve the desired performance and security requirements. Calorimetric methods have surpassed classical electrical methods for…
This paper shows how the theory of nonlinear adaptive observers can be effectively used in the design of internal models for nonlinear output regulation. The theory substantially enhances the existing results in the context of {\em…
Thermoelectricity in superconducting tunnel junctions has always been studied under the hypothesis of equilibrium between the cold side and the thermal bath, usually in the linear regime. We define a more complete out-of-equilibrium…
All existing heat machines are dissipative open systems. Hence, they cannot operate fully coherently. We propose to replace this conventional thermodynamic paradigm by a completely different one, whereby heat machines are nonlinear coherent…
The designer's preoccupation to reduce the energy needs and get a better thermal quality of ambiances helped in the development of several packages simulating the dynamic behaviour of buildings. This paper shows the adaptation of a method…
This manuscript reports a semiconductor-sensitized thermal cell (STC) that converts ambient heat into electrical power while simultaneously reducing its own temperature under isothermal conditions. Using a printable…
Optimal management of thermal and energy grids with fluctuating demand and prices requires to orchestrate the generation units (GU) among all their operating modes. A hierarchical approach is proposed to control coupled energy nonlinear…