Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 096601 (2005) [4 pages]

Reversible Thermoelectric Nanomaterials

Abstract

References

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T. E. Humphrey^1,2,* and H. Linke³
¹Engineering Physics, University of Wollongong, Wollongong 2522, Australia
²School of Physics, University of New South Wales, New South Wales 2052, Australia
³Materials Science Institute and Physics Department, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1274, USA

Received 20 July 2004; published 9 March 2005

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 under which reversible diffusive electron transport can be achieved in nanostructured thermoelectric materials. We provide a fundamental thermodynamic explanation for why the optimum density of states in a thermoelectric material is a delta function and for why inhomogeneous doping and segmentation improve the thermoelectric figure of merit.

URL:

http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.096601

DOI:

10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.096601

PACS:

72.20.Pa, 05.70.–a, 73.63.Kv, 85.35.Be

^*Electronic address: tammy.humphrey@unsw.edu.au

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 096601 (2005) [4 pages]

Reversible Thermoelectric Nanomaterials