Thermoelectric Properties of Single Molecule Junction in Presence of Dephasing and Different Coupling Geometries

The thermoelectric properties of a benzene molecule coupled to three-dimensional metallic electrodes are examined in the presence of dephasing processes using Green function formalism in the linear response regime. The three different kind of configurations(ortho, meta and para) are taken into account for the coupling between the molecule and electrodes. Results show that the thermoelectric properties of the single molecular junction are strongly dependent on the coupling geometry. Our results predict that the thermoelectric efficiency is increased in specific geometry as a consequence of interference effects. It is found that the dephasing effects result in the reduction of the thermoelectric efficiency.     

Graphene for Thermoelectric Applications: Prospects and Challenges

Thermoelectric power generators require high-efficiency thermoelectric materials to transform waste heat into usable electrical energy. An efficient thermoelectric material should have high Seebeck coefficient and excellent electrical conductivity as well as low thermal conductivity. Graphene, the first truly 2D nanomaterial, exhibits unique properties which suit it for use in thermoelectric power generators, but its application in thermoelectrics is limited by the high thermal conductivity and low Seebeck coefficient resulting from its gapless spectrum. However, with the possibility of modification of graphene's band structure to enhance Seebeck coefficient and the reduction of its thermal conductivity, it is an exciting prospect for application in thermoelectric power generation. This article examines the electronic, optical, thermal, and thermoelectric properties of graphene systems. The factors that contribute to these material properties in graphene systems like charge carriers scattering mechanisms are discussed. A salient aspect of this article is a synergistic perspective on the reduction of thermal conductivity and improvement of Seebeck coefficient of graphene for a higher thermoelectric energy conversion efficiency. In this regard, the effect of graphene nanostructuring and doping, forming of structural defects, as well as graphene integration into a polymer matrix on its thermal conductivity and Seebeck coefficient is elucidated.     

Thermoelectric Properties of the TlBiS<Subscript>2</Subscript>-PbS Alloys

High efficiency of thermoelectric conversion can be achieved by using materials with a high Seebeck coefficient, high electrical conductivity, and low thermal conductivity. Mass-difference-scattering of the phonons is one of the most effective way for reducing the thermal conductivity in bulk thermoelectric materials. Investigations of transport phenomena in (TlBiS₂)_1-x (2PbS)_x alloys system have shown that in solid solutions of the (A³B⁵C ₂ ⁶ )_1-x (2A⁴B⁶)_x type at cation substitution according to scheme 2A⁴⁽⁺²⁾ A ³⁽⁺¹⁾ + B⁵⁽⁺³⁾ occurs a strong decrease of the lattice thermal conductivity. In the vicinity of x = 0. 50 the lattice part of thermal conductivity of (TlBiS₂)_1-x (2PbS)_x alloys decreases down to 0. 26 W/mK, i. e., it approaches the theoretical minimum. As a result, the thermoelectric figure of merit for these alloys ( 25%) exceeds the respective value for lead sulfide at room temperature.     

Electrical and thermal transport properties of CdO ceramics

High temperature electrical and thermal transport properties, that is, electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity, of CdO ceramics have been investigated. Because of the good electrical properties and low thermal conductivity, the dimensionless figure-of-merit ZT of the CdO ceramics reaches 0.34 at 1023 K. This value is comparable to the best reported ZT for the n-type oxide ceramic thermoelectric materials and remains as potential to be further improved by porosity controlling or nanostructuring.     

纳米线阵列横向输运的热电特性研究

利用包络函数的平面波展开法计算准二维纳米线阵列中的电子态,获得电输运系数表达式.同时,通过合理近似考虑边界散射对声子输运的影响,计算得到了晶格热导率.以Si/Ge体系为例,研究了纳米线阵列横向输运的热电特性.结果表明：结构优值与费米能级、纳米线直径及间距等参数相关.通过对结构参数的调整,纳米线阵列的横向输运可有效提高热电性能. 关键词： 热电性能 纳米线阵列 Seebeck系数 晶格热导率     

多约束纳米结构的声子热导率模型研究

纳米技术的快速发展使得对微纳尺度导热机理的深入研究变得至关重要. 理论和实验都表明, 在纳米尺度下声子热导率将表现出尺寸效应. 基于声子玻尔兹曼方程和修正声子平均自由程的方法得到了多约束纳米结构的声子热导率模型, 可以描述多个几何约束共同作用下热导率的尺寸效应. 不同几何约束对声子输运的限制作用可以分开计算, 总体影响则通过马西森定则进行耦合. 对于热流方向的约束, 采用扩散近似的方法求解声子玻尔兹曼方程; 对于侧面边界约束, 采用修正平均自由程的方法计算边界散射对热导率的影响. 得到的模型能够预测纳米薄膜(法向和面向)及有限长度方形纳米线的热导率随相应特征尺寸的变化. 与蒙特卡罗模拟及硅纳米结构热导率实验值的对比验证了模型的正确性.     

Effective Mass Enhancement and Thermal Conductivity Reduction for Improving the Thermoelectric Properties of Pseudo-Binary Ge2Sb2Te5

Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ is a famous phase-change memory material for rewriteable optical storage, which is widely applied in the information storage field. The stable trigonal phase of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ shows potential as a thermoelectric material as well, due to its tunable electrical transport properties and low lattice thermal conductivity. In this work, the carrier concentration and effective mass of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ are modulated by substituting Te with Se. Meanwhile, the thermal conductivity reduces from 2.48 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ for Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ to 1.37 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ for Ge₂Sb₂Te_3.5Se_1.5 at 703 K. Therefore, the thermoelectric figure of merit zT increases from 0.24 for Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ to 0.41 for Ge₂Sb₂Te_3.5Se_1.5 at 703 K. This study reveals that Se alloying is an effective way to enhance the thermoelectric properties of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅.     

水基ZnO纳米流体电导和热导性能研究

利用水热法生成了形状规则、粒径均匀的球形ZnO纳米颗粒, 并超声分散于水中, 制备得到稳定的水基ZnO纳米流体. 实验测量水基ZnO纳米流体在体积分数和温度变化时的电导率, 并测试室温下水基ZnO纳米流体在不同体积分数下的热导率. 实验结果表明, ZnO纳米颗粒的添加较大地提高了基液(纯水)的热导率和电导率, 水基ZnO纳米流体的电导率随纳米颗粒体积分数增加呈非线性增加关系, 而电导率随温度变化呈现出拟线性关系; 纳米流体的热导率与纳米颗粒体积分数增加呈近似线性增加关系. 本文在经典Maxwell热导模型和布朗动力学理论的基础上, 同时考虑了吸附层、团聚体和布朗运动等因素对热导率的影响, 提出了热导率修正模型.将修正模型预测值与实验值对比, 结果表明修正模型可以较为准确地计算出纳米流体的热导率. 关键词： 水热法 电导率 热导率 热导模型     

Thermoelectric power and ac conductivity of A-type Nd2O3

Measurement of thermoelectric power Θ of pressed pellets of A-type Nd₂O₃ from 550 to 1180K and electrical conductivity (σ) at dc, 50 Hz, 1.542 kHz and 3 kHz at different temperatures is reported. It is concluded that electrical conduction at high temperature (T>600K) in this solid is due to positive large polarons in O²⁻ : 2p (valence) band and negative intermediate polarons in Nd³⁺ : 5d (conduction band). The energy band gap of the solid has been found to be 2.44 eV. At low temperatures, conduction by hopping of charge carriers from one impurity centre to another has been predicted.     

Thermoelectric effects in superconducting nanostructures

We study thermoelectric effects in superconducting nanobridges and demonstrate that the magnitude of these effects can be comparable or even larger than that for a macroscopic circuit. It is shown that a large gradient of the electron temperature can be realistically created on a nanoscale and the masking effects due to spurious magnetic fields can be minimised in nanostructures. For these reasons, nanodevices can provide an interesting possibility to study the thermoelectric effect in superconductors.     

稀疏膨胀过程中几何位形对于电子非局域热传导的影响

发展了考虑一维柱对称、球对称位型下流体演化的Fokker-Planck程序, 在流体力学极限下对程序进行了校验. 利用程序模拟研究了球对称位型、平板位型下等离子体在自由稀疏演化过程中电子热流的非局域热输运行为, 分析了几何位型对电子非局域热传导的影响. 非局域卷积理论的计算研究发现, 稀疏过程中空间的几何效应会减小外向电子热输运的非局域性.     

键合界面对面发射激光器光与热性质的影响

通过界面有效吸收系数的计算及界面对腔模的反射率的影响可知,采用双面键合技术制备面发射激光器应使键合界面处于驻波场分布零点位置,同时界面厚度应该小于20 nm以使器件光学性能受界面吸收系数的影响较小.采用有限元方法分析VCSEL温度分布,结果证实薄的键合界面使VCSEL有源区温度对界面的热导率和电导率改变不敏感,而厚的键合界面将可能使有源区温度有较大地升高,给器件带来严重的不良影响.亲水键合和疏水键合的SEM照片说明疏水处理界面较薄,适合用于器件的制备.而亲水处理界面厚度>40 nm,对器件的光、热特性不利 关键词： 键合 面发射激光器 热导率 电导率     

An Analytical Approach to Thermal and Electrical Transport in a Mesoscopic Conductor

In order to consider the thermal and electrical coherent transport in a mesoscopic conductor under the influence of electron-electron interaction, in this paper, we establish a method in terms of which one can analytically obtain the Hartree self-consistent potential instead of computing it by the numerical iterative procedure as usual, which is convenient for us to describe the thermal and electric current flow through a mesoscopic conductor. If we study the electron-electron interaction at the Hartree approximation level, the Hartree potential satisfies the Poisson equation and Schroedinger equation, so when we expand the action function S（x） by Planck constant h, the self-consistent potential and the wavefunction can be solved analytically order by order, and the thermal and electrical conductance can thus be obtained readily. However, we just show the quantum corrections up to the second order.     

Bulk properties of the UCoGe Kondo-like system

We report on extensive experimental investigations of a single crystal of the orthorhombic uranium compound UCoGe. Bulk measurements on as-grown and annealed single crystals, recording magnetization, magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, magnetoresistivity, thermopower, thermal conductivity and heat capacity data do not reproduce the previously reported coexistence of ferromagnetism with superconductivity. The latter phenomenon was only observed for the annealed sample at T _SC = 0.65 K. New observations show a crossover at around 13 K, visible in thermal and transport measurements as well as the coherent state around 50 K, signaled by a wide knee in ρ(T). Above this temperature, UCoGe exhibits a single-ion Kondo-like effect. The magnetoresistivity of the annealed single crystal increases negatively down to 4.2 K, reaching as a large value about ?27% at a field of 8 T. The latter may be interpreted in terms of fairly strong magnetic fluctuations existing in UCoGe at low temperatures.     

An Analytical Approach to Thermal and Electrical Transport in a Mesoscopic Conductor

In order to consider the thermal and electrical coherent transport in a mesoscopic conductor under the influence of electron-electron interaction, in this paper, we establish a method in terms of which one can analytically obtain the Hartree self-consistent potential instead of computing it by the numerical iterative procedure as usual, which is convenient for us to describe the thermal and electric current flow through a mesoscopic conductor. If we study the electron-electron interaction at the Hartree approximation level, the Hartree potential satisfies the Poisson equation and Schrodinger equation, so when we expand the action function S(x) by Planck constant h, the self-consistent potential and the wavefunction can be solved analytically order by order, and the thermal and electrical conductance can thus be obtained readily. However, we just show the quantum corrections up to the second order.     

快速热退火对Co/Si0.85Geo.15肖特基结电学特性的影响

用离子束溅射技术分别在SiO2和单晶Si衬底上沉积了Si1-xGex和Co薄膜.在不同温度下,对Co/Si1-xGex肖特基结进行快速热退火处理(RTA),对处理后的样品进行了表面形貌和电学测量.发现退火温度升高,样品表面粗糙度变大,理想因子也变大,但对肖特基势垒高度(SBH)的影响很小.分析认为,随着退火温度的升高,...     

Thermal and Spectral Dielectric Properties of Polypyrrole/Polymethylmethacrylate Composites

Thermal properties of polypyrrole/polymethylmethacrylate (PPy/PMMA) composites were analyzed by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A decrease in the glass transition temperatures with PPy concentration reveals the increase of segmental motion. The dielectric properties of these composites were studied for several weight concentrations of PPy in the frequency range between 500 Hz and 0.2 MHz, over the temperature range 23–110°C. Jonscher's phenomenological model has been used for modeling the dielectric response of the composite materials. This study shows that the results obtained for the dielectric response are in good agreement with the results of TGA and DSC measurements.