High figure of merit in an ac driven graphene nanoribbon

Abstract

Abstract Generally, pristine graphene nanoribbons show poor thermoelectric (TE) performance. Several proposals are available to enhance the TE performance, which however requires some highly structural modifications of the system. In the present work, we explore a new prescription where a favorable TE response can be achieved by irradiating the ribbon. The electronic conductance, thermopower and thermal conductance due to electron are found to be highly sensitive to the irradiation. We obtain significantly enhanced thermopower along with highly suppressed thermal conductance for typical sets of irradiation parameters. As a result of this higher figure of merit is found. Therefore, we can suggest that a graphene nanoribbon can be used as an efficient energy conversion device in the presence of irradiation and hope that it will bear a significant impact in the energy market soon.