Reprint of : Thermoelectricity without absorbing energy from the heat sources

We analyze the power output of a quantum dot machine coupled to two electronic reservoirs via thermoelectric contacts, and to two thermal reservoirs – one hot and one cold. This machine is a nanoscale analogue of a conventional thermocouple heat-engine, in which the active region being heated is unavoidably also exchanging heat with its cold environment. Heat exchange between the dot and the thermal reservoirs is treated as a capacitive coupling to electronic fluctuations in localized levels, modeled as two additional quantum dots. The resulting multiple-dot setup is described using a master equation approach. We observe an “exotic” power generation, which remains finite even when the heat absorbed from the thermal reservoirs is zero (in other words the heat coming from the hot reservoir all escapes into the cold environment). This effect can be understood in terms of a non-local effect in which the heat flow from heat source to the cold environment generates power via a mechanism which we refer to as Coulomb heat drag. It relies on the fact that there is no relaxation in the quantum dot system, so electrons within it have a non-thermal energy distribution. More poetically, one can say that we find a spatial separation of the first-law of thermodynamics (heat to work conversion) from the second-law of thermodynamics (generation of entropy). We present circumstances in which this non-thermal system can generate more power than any conventional macroscopic thermocouple (with local thermalization), even when the latter works with Carnot efficiency.     

Thermodynamic performance characteristics of a three-terminal quantum dot hybrid thermoelectric heat engine

We propose a new model of the three-terminal quantum dot hybrid thermoelectric heat engine in which the electrons transfer between two electronic terminals at different temperatures and chemical potentials through two coupled single-level quantum dots. Based on master equation we derive the expressions for the output power and the efficiency. The working region of the hybrid heat engine is determined according to the first and second law of thermodynamics. The performance characteristic curves are plotted and the optimal performance parameters are obtained. Finally, the influence of the non-radiative effect on the optimal performance parameters is discussed in detail.     

Reprint of : Heat pump driven by the shot noise of a tunnel contact

We investigate a mechanism for cooling a lead based on a process that replaces hot electrons by cold ones. The central idea is that a double quantum dot with an inhomogeneous Zeeman splitting acts as energy filter for the transported electrons. The setup is such that hot electrons with spin up are removed, while cold electrons with spin down are added. The required non-equilibrium condition is provided by the capacitive coupling of one quantum dot to the shot noise of a strongly biased quantum point contact in the tunneling limit. Special attention is paid to the identification of an operating regime in which the net electrical current vanishes.     

Heat pump driven by the shot noise of a tunnel contact

We investigate a mechanism for cooling a lead based on a process that replaces hot electrons by cold ones. The central idea is that a double quantum dot with an inhomogeneous Zeeman splitting acts as energy filter for the transported electrons. The setup is such that hot electrons with spin up are removed, while cold electrons with spin down are added. The required non-equilibrium condition is provided by the capacitive coupling of one quantum dot to the shot noise of a strongly biased quantum point contact in the tunneling limit. Special attention is paid to the identification of an operating regime in which the net electrical current vanishes.     

The effect of the long-range order in a quantum dot array on the in-plane lattice thermal conductivity

Semiconductor quantum dot superlattices consisting of arrays of quantum dots have shown great promise for a variety of device applications, including thermoelectric power generation and cooling. In this paper we theoretically investigate the effect of long-range order in a quantum dot array on its in-plane lattice thermal conductivity. It is demonstrated that the long-range order in a quantum dot array enhances acoustic phonon scattering and, thus leads to a decrease of its lattice thermal conductivity. The decrease in the ordered quantum dot array, which acts as a phonon grating, is stronger than that in the disordered one due to the contribution of the coherent scattering term. The numerical calculations were carried out for a structure that consists of multiple layers of Si with layers of ordered Ge quantum dots separated by wetting layers and spacers.     

Thermoelectrics with Coulomb-coupled quantum dots

In this article we review the thermoelectric properties of three terminal devices with Coulomb-coupled quantum dots (QDs) as observed in recent experiments [1], [2]. The system we consider consists of two Coulomb-blockade QDs, one of which can exchange electrons with only a single reservoir (heat reservoir), while the other dot is tunnel coupled with two reservoirs at a lower temperature (conductor). The heat reservoir and the conductor interact only via the Coulomb coupling of the quantum dots. It has been found that two regimes have to be considered. In the first one, the heat flow between the two systems is small. In this regime, thermally driven occupation fluctuations of the hot QD modify the transport properties of the conductor system. This leads to an effect called thermal gating. Experiments have shown how this can be used to control charge flow in the conductor by means of temperature in a remote reservoir. We further substantiate the observations with model calculations, and implications for the realisation of an all-thermal transistor are discussed. In the second regime, the heat flow between the two systems is relevant. Here the system works as a nanoscale heat engine, as proposed recently (Sánchez and Büttiker [3]). We review the conceptual idea, its experimental realisation and the novel features arising in this new kind of thermoelectric device such as decoupling of heat and charge flow.     

Molecular dynamics study of the stability of a carbon nanotube atop a catalytic nanoparticle

The effect of spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) on the quantum heat engine (QHE) consisting of a laser system is studied in terms of its dynamical evolution and the generation of coherences. The QHE is coupled to the two thermal photon reservoirs, a squeezed thermal bath as well as to a cavity mode. The coherence associated with the transition interacting with squeezed reservoir and the average thermal photon number of the hot (as well as cold) reservoir shows a non monotonous behavior between them. The dynamics along with generated coherences of the system and the laser power emitted depend sensitively on the hot, cold and squeezed reservoir parameters.     

Generation of non-equilibrium thermal quantum discord and entanglement in a three-spin XX chain by multi-spin interaction and an external magnetic field

The generation of non-equilibrium thermal quantum discord and entanglement is investigated in a three-spin chain whose two end spins are respectively coupled to two thermal reservoirs at different temperatures. We show that the spin chain can be decoupled from the thermal reservoirs by homogeneously applying a magnetic field and including a strong three-spin interaction, and then the maximal steady-state quantum discord and entanglement in the two end spins can always be created. In addition, the present investigation may provide a useful approach to control coupling between a quantum system and its environment.     

线性不可逆热力学框架下一个无限尺寸热源而有限尺寸冷源的制冷机的性能分析

如何优化工作在有限尺寸的热源与冷源之间的热设备的性能是有限时间热力学领域的一个重要课题.本文在线性不可热力学框架下,结合有限时间热力学理论,研究了一个无限尺寸热源而有限尺寸冷源的制冷机的工作过程,解析性地推导了紧耦合条件下平均输入功率以及制冷系数表达式,并且进一步讨论了该制冷机的性能.发现平均输入功率与制冷时间不存在明确的优化关系,而且输入功率的增加导致制冷系数单调减小,但辐射能的增加致使制冷系数增强.研究结果对于深入理解实际的热力学过程具有一定的工程实践性价值.     

Finite time thermodynamic analysis of quantum Otto heat engine with squeezed thermal bath

We investigate the finite time performance of reciprocating quantum Otto heat engine coupled to squeezed hot reservoir. We emphasize the converged limit cycle where each stroke is performed in finite time. To fully exploit the quantum availability provided by the squeezed bath, an optimal frequency protocol in the work extraction stroke is explicitly proposed. The power output is optimized with respect to the hot and cold isochore times. Thermodynamic analysis shows that for a wide range of squeezing parameters, efficiency at maximum power exceeds the generalized Curzon–Ahlborn efficiency defined by the effective temperature of the squeezed bath.     

Theoretical study on InxGa1−xN/GaN quantum dots solar cell

In this work, the structure of In_xGa_1−xN/GaN quantum dots solar cell is investigated by solving the Schrödinger equation in light of the Kronig-Penney model. Compared to p-n homojunction and heterojunction solar cells, the In_xGa_1−xN/GaN quantum dots intermediate band solar cell manifests much larger power conversion efficiency. Furthermore, the power conversion efficiency of quantum dot intermediate band solar cell strongly depends on the size, interdot distance and gallium content of the quantum dot arrays. Particularly, power conversion efficiency is preferable with the location of intermediate band in the middle of the potential well.     

Quantum size effects of CO reactivity on metallic quantum dots

We study the reactivity of a metallic quantum dot when exposed to a gas phase CO molecule. First, we perform a Newns-Anderson model calculation in which the valence electrons of the quantum dot are confined by a finite potential well and the molecule is characterized by its lowest unoccupied molecular orbital in the gas phase. A pronounced quantum size effect regarding the charge transfer between the quantum dot and molecule is observed. We then perform a first-principles calculation for a selected size interval. The quantum dot is described within the jellium model and the molecule by pseudopotentials. Our results show that the charge transfer between the quantum dot and the molecule depends critically on the size of the quantum dot, and that this dependence is intimately connected with the electronic structure. The key factor for charge transfer is the presence of states with the symmetry of the chemically active molecular orbital at the Fermi level.     

Electron interaction effects on the thermoelectric power of a quantum dot at T &gt; T<Subscript>K</Subscript>

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.     

Thermoelectric properties of correlated double quantum dot system in Coulomb blockade regime

We theoretically study thermoelectric properties of a coupled double quantum dot (DQD) system coupled to normal leads using two impurity Anderson model with intra- as well as interdot Coulomb interactions. A generic formulation, which was earlier developed to study electronic properties (zero bias maximum of differential conductance and interesting partial swapping in Fano phenomena) of DQD system within Coulomb blockade regime for a non-magnetic case, is extended to investigate thermoelectric properties i.e. electrical conductance, thermoelectric power and thermal conductance of the same system, as a function of temperature by varying interdot Coulomb interaction and interdot tunneling. Interdot Coulomb interaction is found to trigger some novel features like crossover in thermoelectric power with temperature in all the configurations (series, parallel and T-shape) and a small peak in thermal conductance toward low temperatures, T≈Γ/10, in series and T-shape configurations, which is found to be missing in case of symmetric parallel configuration. The origin of these novel features is attributed to the interplay of renormalization of energy levels caused by the interdot Coulomb interaction which is interpreted in terms of local density of states and the asymmetry effects related to dot-lead couplings/interference effects.     

Thermoelectric transport properties through a T-shaped single quantum dot

We study the thermopower, thermal conductance, electric conductance and the thermoelectric figure of merit for a gate-defined T-shaped single quantum dot (QD). The QD is solved in the limit of strong Coulombian repulsion U→∞, inside the dot, and the quantum wire is modeled on a tight-binding linear chain. We employ the X-boson approach for the Anderson impurity model to describe the localized level within the quantum dot. Our results are in qualitative agreement with recent experimental reports and other theoretical researches for the case of a quantum dot embedded into a conduction channel, employing analogies between the two systems. The results for the thermopower sign as a function of the gate voltage (associated with the quantum dot energy) are in agreement with a recent experimental result obtained for a suspended quantum dot. The thermoelectric figure of merit times temperature results indicates that, at low temperatures and in the crossover between the intermediate valence and Kondo regimes, the system might have practical applicability in the development of thermoelectric devices.     

Quantum point contacts as heat engines

The efficiency of macroscopic heat engines is restricted by the second law of thermodynamics. They can reach at most the efficiency of a Carnot engine. In contrast, heat currents in mesoscopic heat engines show fluctuations. Thus, there is a small probability that a mesoscopic heat engine exceeds Carnot's maximum value during a short measurement time. We illustrate this effect using a quantum point contact as a heat engine. When a temperature difference is applied to a quantum point contact, the system may be utilized as a source of electrical power under steady state conditions. We first discuss the optimal working point of such a heat engine that maximizes the generated electrical power and subsequently calculate the statistics for deviations of the efficiency from its most likely value. We find that deviations surpassing the Carnot limit are possible, but unlikely.     

Reprint of : Quantum point contacts as heat engines

The efficiency of macroscopic heat engines is restricted by the second law of thermodynamics. They can reach at most the efficiency of a Carnot engine. In contrast, heat currents in mesoscopic heat engines show fluctuations. Thus, there is a small probability that a mesoscopic heat engine exceeds Carnot's maximum value during a short measurement time. We illustrate this effect using a quantum point contact as a heat engine. When a temperature difference is applied to a quantum point contact, the system may be utilized as a source of electrical power under steady state conditions. We first discuss the optimal working point of such a heat engine that maximizes the generated electrical power and subsequently calculate the statistics for deviations of the efficiency from its most likely value. We find that deviations surpassing the Carnot limit are possible, but unlikely.     

Power output and efficiency of quantum dot attached to ferromagnetic electrodes with non-collinear magnetic moments

Non-linear charge and heat transport through a single-level quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime is investigated within the framework of non-equilibrium Green function formalism and power output and efficiency of the device are studied. It is found that maximum power as well as efficiency depends on the relative orientation of magnetic moments in electrodes and can vary with polarization factor p. In general, power output is suppressed in magnetic systems and decreases with polarization. The highest efficiency can be attained in antiparallel configuration, and moreover, it does not depend on p. Spin power as well as spin efficiency of the system is introduced and discussed. It is also shown that in the Coulomb blockade regime the (spin) efficiency of the device operating under maximum power conditions varies with temperature bias in a non-monotonic way and shows a flat maximum for low ΔT.     

On the Computational Power of Molecular Heat Engines

A heat engine is a machine which uses the temperature difference between a hot and a cold reservoir to extract work. Here both reservoirs are quantum systems and a heat engine is described by a unitary transformation which decreases the average energy of the bipartite system. On the molecular scale, the ability of implementing a (good) unitary heat engine is closely connected to the ability of performing logical operations and classical computing. This is shown by several examples: