Y. Apertet — Page 2

arXiv2011

Optimal working conditions for thermoelectric generators with realistic thermal coupling

We study how maximum output power can be obtained from a thermoelectric generator(TEG) with nonideal heat exchangers. We demonstrate with an analytic approach based on a force-flux formalism that the sole improvement of the intrinsic characteristics of thermoelectric modules including the enhancement of the figure of merit is of limited interest: the constraints imposed by the working conditions of the TEG must be considered on the same footing. Introducing an effective thermal conductance we derive the conditions which permit maximization of both efficiency and power production of the TEG dissipatively coupled to heat reservoirs. Thermal impedance matching must be accounted for as well as electrical impedance matching in order to maximize the output power. Our calculations also show that the thermal impedance does not only depend on the thermal conductivity at zero electrical current: it also depends on the TEG figure of merit. Our analysis thus yields both electrical and thermal conditions permitting optimal use of a thermoelectric generator.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2010

Unveiling a two-dimensional electron gas with universal subbands at the surface of SrTiO3

Similar to silicon that is the basis of conventional electronics, strontium titanate (SrTiO3) is the bedrock of the emerging field of oxide electronics. SrTiO3 is the preferred template to create exotic two-dimensional (2D) phases of electron matter at oxide interfaces, exhibiting metal-insulator transitions, superconductivity, or large negative magnetoresistance. However, the physical nature of the electronic structure underlying these 2D electron gases (2DEGs) remains elusive, although its determination is crucial to understand their remarkable properties. Here we show, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), that there is a highly metallic universal 2DEG at the vacuum-cleaved surface of SrTiO3, independent of bulk carrier densities over more than seven decades, including the undoped insulating material. This 2DEG is confined within a region of ~5 unit cells with a sheet carrier density of ~0.35 electrons per a^2 (a is the cubic lattice parameter). We unveil a remarkable electronic structure consisting on multiple subbands of heavy and light electrons. The similarity of this 2DEG with those reported in SrTiO3-based heterostructures and field-effect transistors suggests that different forms of electron confinement at the surface of SrTiO3 lead to essentially the same 2DEG. Our discovery provides a model system for the study of the electronic structure of 2DEGs in SrTiO3-based devices, and a novel route to generate 2DEGs at surfaces of transition-metal oxides.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗