2017/06/06 by Swarnadip Mukherjee, Mukherjee, Swarnadip, Pankaj Priyadarshi +3
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices #Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Quantum and electron transport phenomena
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1706.01669
openalex publication_date 2017/06/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We demonstrate theoretically using the atomistic non-equilibrium Green's function formalism with the inclusion of self-consistent charging, the design of a superior thermoelectric generator based on an "anti-reflection" coated double barrier resonant tunnelling diode. Unlike a typical double barrier device, we show that enabling the anti-reflection design facilitates a "boxcar" type feature in its transmission spectrum, which significantly enhances the thermoelectric performance. It is demonstrated that the best operating regime of this device offers a maximum power in the range of 0.7 to 0.9 MW/m2 at efficiencies ranging from 46 to 54% of Carnot efficiency. The physics of charge and heat transport in the ballistic regime of operation helps us gain additional insights on how a large number of transverse current carrying modes boost the output power and simultaneously how the diminishing effects of high-energy parasitic currents aid the efficiency. Finally, a comparative study with a conventional double barrier thermoelectric is presented in terms of standard performance parameters which clearly reveals the performance benefits of enabling an anti-reflection coating.