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Electron Transport Engineering by Nanostructures for Efficient Thermoelectrics

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Nanoscale Thermoelectrics

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Nanoscale Science and Technology ((LNNST,volume 16))

Abstract

We theoretically investigate nanoscale structures such as nanoparticles embedded in bulk materials as a means of improving the thermoelectric energy conversion efficiency. We focus on the impact of such nanostructures on the electron transport in the host material, and discuss the enhancement of the thermoelectric power factor and thus the figure of merit. Nanostructures embedded in thermoelectric materials can create potential variations at the nanoscale due to the hetero-interfaces, which can alter the transport of charge carriers in the host material to enhance the Seebeck coefficient and the power factor. The energy-dependent electron scattering times induced by nanoparticles are calculated using the partial wave method. Thermoelectric transport properties are then calculated based on the linearized Boltzmann transport theory with the relaxation time approximation for various thermoelectric materials such as ErAs:InGaAs, PbTe, and Mg2Si. The effects of different kinds of nanoparticles including single-phase ionized metallic nanoparticles and core–shell nanoparticles embedded in semiconductors are investigated in these semiconductors. Finally the electron energy filtering scheme is discussed to further enhance the thermoelectric energy conversion efficiency.

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Acknowledgement

The authors thank Zhixi Bian, Mona Zebarjadi, Parthi Santhanam, and Tela Favaloro for their helpful discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, 1205 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2057, USA

    Je-Hyeong Bahk & Ali Shakouri

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  1. Je-Hyeong Bahk
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  2. Ali Shakouri
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Correspondence to Je-Hyeong Bahk .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China

    Xiaodong Wang

  2. Engineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China

    Zhiming M. Wang

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Bahk, JH., Shakouri, A. (2014). Electron Transport Engineering by Nanostructures for Efficient Thermoelectrics. In: Wang, X., Wang, Z. (eds) Nanoscale Thermoelectrics. Lecture Notes in Nanoscale Science and Technology, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02012-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02012-9_2

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