Thermoelectric cooperative effect in three-terminal elastic transport through a quantum dot

The energy efficiency and power of a quantum three-terminal thermoelectric device are studied by considering elastic tunneling through a quantum dot. Facilitated by the three-terminal geometry, the device can generate electrical powers in two channels simultaneously, even when only one heat current...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of applied physics 2017-07, Vol.122 (4)
Hauptverfasser: Lu, Jincheng, Wang, Rongqian, Liu, Yefeng, Jiang, Jian-Hua
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The energy efficiency and power of a quantum three-terminal thermoelectric device are studied by considering elastic tunneling through a quantum dot. Facilitated by the three-terminal geometry, the device can generate electrical powers in two channels simultaneously, even when only one heat current is exploited. The electrical power in these two channels can add up constructively or destructively, depending on their signs. The constructive cooperation leads to enhanced thermoelectric power and efficiency for various quantum-dot energies, tunneling rates, etc. Moreover, this cooperative enhancement, dubbed as the thermoelectric cooperative effect, is found to be universal in three-terminal thermoelectric energy harvest.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.4995532