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arXiv · 1907.01140

Three-terminal interface as a thermoelectric generator beyond Seebeck effect

Hangbo Zhou·Gang Zhang·Jian-Sheng Wang·Yong-Wei Zhang
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Abstract

We investigate thermoelectric transport through interfaces with inelastic scatterings by developing a quantum theory, which has been extensively validated by existing theories. We find that under temperature bias, while a two-terminal conductor-insulator interface behaves only as a thermal resistor, a three-terminal conductor-insulator-conductor interface can function as an electricity generator caused by phonon-mediated electron scatterings with heat-charge current separation. Unlike conventional thermoelectrics which is a property of a bulk caused by the Seebeck effect, this thermoelectric behavior is a property of an interface driven by electron-phonon scatterings.

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Hangbo Zhou, Gang Zhang, Jian-Sheng Wang, Yong-Wei Zhang. 2019-07-02. Three-terminal interface as a thermoelectric generator beyond Seebeck effect. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.101.235305

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