Journal ArticleDOI
Improved Thermoelectric Power Factor in Metal-Based Superlattices
Daryoosh Vashaee,Ali Shakouri +1 more
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TLDR
It is shown that metal-based superlattices with tall barriers can achieve a large effective thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT > 5 at room temperature), a key parameter to achieving high performance is the nonconservation of lateral momentum during the thermionic emission process.Abstract:
In this paper we present a detailed theory of electron and thermoelectric transport perpendicular to heterostructure superlattices. This nonlinear transport regime above barriers is also called heterostructure thermionic emission. We show that metal-based superlattices with tall barriers can achieve a large effective thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT > 5 at room temperature). A key parameter to achieving high performance is the nonconservation of lateral momentum during the thermionic emission process. Conservation of lateral momentum is a consequence of translational symmetry in the plane of the superlattice. We also discuss the use of nonplanar barriers and embedded quantum dot structures to achieve high thermoelectric conversion efficiency.read more
Citations
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Thermoelectric effects of resonant magnetic tunnel junctions
TL;DR: In this article, the thermoelectric properties of double-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions (DBMTJ) were investigated in the linear response regime, where the nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism was used within the effective mass approximation.
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Stability of Skutterudite Thermoelectric Materials
TL;DR: By multifilling with La, Ba, Ga, Ti, Yb, Ca, Al, and In, the dimensionless figure of merit ZT of filled skutterudites has been improved in this article.
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Efficiency Limits of Solar Energy Harvesting via Internal Photoemission in Carbon Materials
TL;DR: In this article, the upper limits of the efficiency of photon energy harvesting via hot electron extraction from gapless absorbers were estimated by a combination of density functional theory, joint electron density of states calculations, and Schottky diode efficiency modeling.
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Enhanced thermoelectric performance of SWNT/organic small molecule (OSM) hybrid materials by tuning of the energy level of OSMs
TL;DR: In this article, the Seebeck coefficient and power factor of a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) and organic small molecule (OSM) hybrid were improved by lowering the energy barrier between SWNT and OSM.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Thin-film thermoelectric devices with high room-temperature figures of merit
TL;DR: Th thin-film thermoelectric materials are reported that demonstrate a significant enhancement in ZT at 300 K, compared to state-of-the-art bulk Bi2Te3 alloys, and the combination of performance, power density and speed achieved in these materials will lead to diverse technological applications.
Journal ArticleDOI
Quantum dot superlattice thermoelectric materials and devices.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that improved cooling values relative to the conventional bulk (Bi,Sb)2(Se,Te)3thermoelectric materials using a n-type film in a one-leg thermoelectrics device test setup, which cooled the cold junction 43.7 K below the room temperature hot junction temperature of 299.8 K.
Journal ArticleDOI
Heterostructure integrated thermionic coolers
Ali Shakouri,John E. Bowers +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a single-stage room temperature cooling of high power electronic and optoelectronic devices is achieved by selective emission of hot electrons over a barrier layer from the cathode to the anode.
Journal ArticleDOI
Multilayer Thermionic Refrigeration
TL;DR: In this paper, a new method of refrigeration is proposed by thermionic emission of electrons over Schottky barriers between metals and semiconductors, which can have only a small temperature difference.
Journal ArticleDOI
Electronic and thermoelectric transport in semiconductor and metallic superlattices
Daryoosh Vashaee,Ali Shakouri +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, a detailed theory of nonisothermal electron transport perpendicular to multilayer superlattice structures is presented, and the currentvoltage and cooling power density are calculated using Fermi-Dirac statistics, density-of-states for a finite quantum well and the quantum mechanical reflection coefficient.