Abstract
In the absence of phonon thermal conductivity, we theoretically investigate the output power of an interacting quantum dot thermoelectric setup that is moderately coupled to two electronic reservoirs in the regime T ≫ T K . In the noninteracting case, the output power is maximized when the energy level of the dot is around a critical value ε c . We find that when the energy level of the dot is lower than ε c , Coulomb interaction can enhance the maximum thermoelectric power that can be achieved by tuning the bias and a wider operating region is also observed. However, when the energy level of the dot is higher than ε c , Coulomb interaction suppresses the maximum power. Finally when the dot level is around ε c , Coulomb interaction has minimal effects on the maximum power.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M.S. Dresselhaus, G. Chen, M.Y. Tang, R.G. Yang, H. Lee, D.Z. Wang, Z. Ren, J.P. Fleurial, P. Gogna, Adv. Mater. 19, 1043 (2007)
G.J. Snyder, E.R. Toberer, Nat. Mater. 7, 105 (2008)
J.P. Heremans, V. Jovovic, E.S. Toberer, A. Saramat, K. Kurosaki, A. Charoenphakdee, S. Yamanaka, G.J. Snyder, Science 321, 554 (2008)
G. Pernot et al., Nat. Mater. 9, 491 (2010)
J.-K. Yu, S. Mitrovic, D. Tham, J. Varghese, J.R. Heath, Nat. Nanotech. 5, 718 (2010)
B. Poudel, Q. Hao, Y. Ma, Y. Lan, A. Minnich, B. Yu, X. Yan, D. Wang, A. Muto, D. Vashaee, X. Chen, J. Liu, M.S. Dresselhaus, G. Chen, Z. Ren, Science 320, 634 (2008)
Y. Pei, H. Wang, G.J. Snyder, Adv. Mater. 24, 6125 (2012)
L.D. Hicks, M.S. Dresselhaus, Phys. Rev. B 47, 12727 (1993)
L.D. Hicks, M.S. Dresselhaus, Phys. Rev. B 47, 16631 (1993)
A. Hochbaum, R. Chen, R.D. Delgado, W. Liang, E.C. Garnett, M. Najarian, A. Majumdar, P. Yang, Nature 451, 163 (2008)
A.I. Boukai, Y. Bunimovich, J. Tahir-Kheli, J.-K. Yu, W.A. Goddard III, J.R. Heath, Nature 451, 168 (2008)
T. Markussen, A.-P. Jauho, M. Brandbyge, Phys. Rev. B 79, 035415 (2009)
H.J. Ryu, Z. Aksamija, D.M. Paskiewicz, S.A. Scott, M.G. Lagally, I. Knezevic, M.A. Eriksson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 256601 (2010)
G.D. Mahan, J.O. Sofo, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 7436 (1996)
T.E. Humphrey, H. Linke, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 096601 (2005)
N. Nakpathomkun, H.Q. Xu, H. Linke, Phys. Rev. B 82, 235428 (2010)
T.E. Humphrey, R. Newbury, R.P. Taylor, H. Linke, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 116801 (2002)
M. Leijnse, M.R. Wegewijs, K. Flensberg, Phys. Rev. B 82, 045412 (2010)
Y.-S. Liu, D.-B. Zhang, X.-F. Yang, J.-F. Feng, Nanotechnology 22, 225201 (2011)
S. Donsa, S. Andergassen, K. Held, Phys. Rev. B 89, 125103 (2014)
B. Muralidharan, M. Grifoni, Phys. Rev. B 85, 155423 (2012)
N.A. Zimbovskaya, J. Chem. Phys. 140, 104706 (2014)
J. Ren, J.-X. Zhu, J.E. Gubernatis, C. Wang, B. Li, Phys. Rev. B 85, 155443 (2012)
D.M.-T. Kuo, Y.-C. Chang, Phys. Rev. B 81, 205321 (2010)
M. Krawiec, K.I. Wysokiński, Phys. Rev. B 75, 155330 (2007)
D.M. Kennes, D. Schuricht, V. Meden, Europhys. Lett. 102, 57003 (2013)
S. Andergassen, T.A. Costi, V. Zlatić, Phys. Rev. B 84, 241107(R) (2011)
J. Azema, A.-M. Daré, S. Schäfer, P. Lombardo, Phys. Rev. B 86, 075303 (2012)
P. Roura-Bas, L. Tosi, A.A. Aligia, P.S. Cornaglia, Phys. Rev. B 86, 165106 (2012)
M. Esposito, K. Lindenberg, C. Van den Broeck, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 130602 (2009)
M. Esposito, K. Lindenberg, C. Van den Broeck, Europhys. Lett. 85, 60010 (2009)
H. Haug, A.-P. Jauho, in Quantum Kinetics in Transport and Optics of Semiconductors, 2nd edn., Springer Solid State Series (Springer, Berlin, 2008), Vol. 123
R.A. Jishi, Feynman Diagram Techniques in Condensed Matter Physics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2013)
B. Song, D.A. Ryndyk, G. Cuniberti, Phys. Rev. B 76, 045408 (2007)
R. Bulla, T.A. Costi, T. Pruschke, Rev. Mod. Phys. 80, 395 (2008)
T.A. Costi, V. Zlatić, Phys. Rev. B 81, 235127 (2010)
L. Mühlbacher, E. Rabani, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 176403 (2008)
J. Eckel, F. Heidrich-Meisner, S.G. Jakobs, M. Thorwart, M. Pletyukhov, R. Egger, New J. Phys. 12, 043042 (2010)
K.T. Regner, D.P. Sellan, Zo. Su, C.H. Amon, A.J.H. McGaughey, J.A. Malen, Nat. Commun. 4, 1640 (2013)
T. Luo, J. Garg, J. Shiomi, K. Esfarjani, G. Chen, Europhys. Lett. 101, 16001 (2013)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yan, Y., Wu, H., Jiang, F. et al. Electron interaction effects on the thermoelectric power of a quantum dot at T > TK . Eur. Phys. J. B 87, 244 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2014-50312-1
Received:
Revised:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2014-50312-1