2004/01/21 by T. E. Humphrey, H. Linke, M. F. O'Dwyer +1 · 2 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices #Electron #Energy (signal processing) #Energy spectrum #Ideal (ethics) #Physics #Power (physics) #Quantum #Quantum mechanics #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies #Thermionic emission #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0022-3727/38/12/029
published as J. Phys. D, Vol. 38 pg. 2051 (2005) · 3 pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2004/01/21 · openalex publication_date 2005/06/03 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Conventional thermionic power generators and refrigerators utilize a barrier in the direction of transport to selectively transmit high-energy electrons, resulting in an energy spectrum of electrons that is not optimal for high efficiency or high power. Here, we derive the ideal energy spectrum for achieving maximum power in thermionic refrigerators and power generators. By using energy barriers that block or transmit electrons according to their total momentum rather than their momentum in the direction of transport, the power of thermionic devices can, in principle, be doubled and the electronic efficiency improved by 25%.