Abstract
AbstractThe classical problem of best thermoelectrics, which was believed originally solved by Mahan and Sofo [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 7436 (1996)], is revisited and discussed in the quantum limit. We express the thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) as a functional of electronic transmission probability $${{{\mathcal{T}}}}$$
T
by the Landauer–Büttiker formalism, which is able to deal with thermoelectric transport ranging from ballistic to diffusive regimes. We also propose to apply the calculus of variations to search for the optimal $${{{\mathcal{T}}}}$$
T
giving the maximal zT. Our study reveals that the optimal transmission probability $${{{\mathcal{T}}}}$$
T
is a boxcar function instead of a delta function proposed by Mahan and Sofo, leading to zT exceeding the well-known Mahan–Sofo limit. Furthermore, we suggest realizing the optimal $${{{\mathcal{T}}}}$$
T
in topological material systems. Our work defines the theoretical upper limit for quantum thermoelectrics, which is of fundamental significance to the future development of thermoelectrics.
Funder
Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Chip Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering
Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Computer Science Applications,Mechanics of Materials,General Materials Science,Modeling and Simulation
Cited by
1 articles.
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