Related papers: Efficiency in nanostructured thermionic and thermo…
Conventional thermionic power generators and refrigerators utilize a barrier in the direction of transport to selectively transmit high-energy electrons. Here we show that the energy spectrum of electrons transmitted in this way is not…
We study quantum transport through two-terminal nanoscale devices in contact with two particle reservoirs at different temperatures and chemical potentials. We discuss the general expressions controlling the electric charge current, heat…
Solid-state heat-to-electrical power converters are thermodynamic engines that use fundamental particles, such as electrons or photons, as working fluids. Virtually all commercially available devices are thermoelectric generators, in which…
Electron energy filtering has been suggested as a promising way to improve the power factor and enhance the ZT figure of merit of thermoelectric materials. In this work we explore the effect that reduced dimensionality has on the success of…
It is shown that equations for electrical current in solid-state thermionic and thermoelectric devices converge for devices with a width equal to the mean free path of electrons, yielding a common expression for intensive electronic…
Solid-state thermoelectric devices are currently used in applications ranging from thermocouple sensors to power generators in satellites, to portable air-conditioners and refrigerators. With the ever-rising demand throughout the world for…
Theoretical thermoelectric nanophysics models of low-dimensional electronic heat engine and refrigerator devices, comprising two-dimensional hot and cold reservoirs and an interconnecting filtered electron transport mechanism have been…
Thermoelectric materials open a way to harness dissipated energy and make electronic devices less energy-demanding. Heat-to-electricity conversion requires materials with a strongly suppressed thermal conductivity but still high electronic…
Continuous particle exchange thermal machines require no time-dependent driving, can be realised in solid-state electronic devices, and miniaturised to nanometre scale. Quantum dots, providing a narrow energy filter and allowing to…
We study linear response and nonequilibrium steady-state thermoelectric transport through a single-level quantum dot tunnel coupled to two reservoirs held at different temperatures as well as chemical potentials. A fermion occupying the dot…
The bottleneck in modern thermoelectric power generation and cooling is the low energy conversion efficiency of thermoelectric materials. The detrimental effects of lattice phonons on performance can be mitigated, but achieving a high…
Molecular junctions and similar devices described by an energy dependent transmission coefficient can have a high linear response thermoelectric figure of merit. Since such devices are inherently non-linear, the full thermodynamic…
Irreversible effects in thermoelectric materials limit their efficiency and economy for applications in power generation and refrigeration. While electron transport is unavoidably irreversible in bulk materials, here we derive conditions…
The energy efficiency and power of a three-terminal thermoelectric nanodevice are studied by considering elastic tunneling through a single quantum dot. Facilitated by the three-terminal geometry, the nanodevice is able to generate…
We study nonlinear transport effects on the maximum efficiency and power for both inelastic and elastic thermoelectric generators. The former refers to phonon-assisted hopping in double quantum-dots, while the latter is represented by…
Miniaturization of electronic devices aims at manufacturing ever smaller products, from mesoscopic to nanoscopic sizes. This trend is challenging because the increased levels of dissipated power demands a better understanding of heat…
Low-dimensional systems with sharp features in the density of states have been proposed as a means to improving the efficiency of thermoelectric devices. Quantum dot systems, which offer the sharpest density of states achievable, however,…
We show that coherent electron transport through zero-dimensional systems can be used to tailor the shape of the system's transmission function. This quantum-engineering approach can be used to enhance the performance of quantum dots or…
So far, the efficiency of thermoelectric energy conversion remains low compared to traditional technologies, such as coal or nuclear. This low efficiency can be explained by connecting the thermoelastic properties of the electronic working…
The emission of thermal radiation is a physical process of fundamental and technological interest. From different approaches, thermal radiation can be regarded either as one of the basic mechanisms of heat transfer, as a fundamental quantum…