I

NTRODUCTI
ONTOTHERMOELECTRI
CS

SEEBECKEFFECT
I
n1821, Ger
manphy si
cistThomasSeebeckdi
scoveredthatwhentwowiresmadefr
om
di
ssi
milarmetal
sarejoinedattwoendstofor
m aloop,andift
hetwojuncti
onsar
emaint
ained
atdi
ff
erenttemper
atures,avol
tagedev
elopsi
nthecircui
t.

TheSeebeckeff
ectisaphenomenoninwhichatemper
atur
edi
ffer
encebetweent
wodissi
mil
ar
el
ectr
ical
conductor
sorsemiconduct
orspr
oducesavol
tagedi
ff
erencebet
weenthet
wo
subst
ances.

Whenheati sappli
edtooneofthetwoconduct orsorsemiconduct
ors,heatedel
ect
ronsflow
towar
dt hecoolerconduct
ororsemiconductor
.Ifthepai
risconnectedthroughanel
ectr
ical
cir
cui
t,dir
ectcurr
ent(DC)fl
owsthroughthatci
rcuit.

V=α∆T
V=Vol
tage

α=Seebeckcoef
fi
cient

∆T=Temper
atur
edi
ff
erence

PELTI
EREFFECT
Lat
er,
in1834,
JeanPel
ti
erf
oundt
hatt
heopposi
teoft
heSeebeckef
fecti
sal
sot
rue:
thata
potent
ial
diff
erence(andthusacur
rent
)cancauseat
emper
atur
edi
ff
erence,
regar
dlessofwhat
theambienttemperatur
eis.

ThePelt
ieref
fecti
sthephenomenonthatapotent
ialdi
ff
erenceappli
edacr
ossather
mocoupl
e
causesatemperat
uredi
ffer
encebet
weent hej
uncti
onsofthediff
erentmat
eri
alsi
nthe
ther
mocouple

•
Thepel
ti
recoef
fi
cientr
epr
esent
showmuchheati
scar
ri
edperuni
tchar
ge

THOMSONEFFECT
Thi
seff
ectwasdi
scov
ered(
1854)byt
heBr
it
ishphy
sici
stWi
l
li
am Thomson(
Lor
d
Kel
vi
n).

Thomsoneffect,theevol
uti
onorabsorpti
onofheatwhenel ect
ri
ccur r
entpasses
thr
oughacircuitcomposedofasinglemateri
althathasatemper at
uredif
fer
enceal
ong
i
tslengt
h.Thistransf
erofheati
ssuperimposedont hecommonpr oduct
ionofheat
associ
atedwiththeelect
ri
calr
esi
stancetocurrentsi
nconductors.

Heatpr
oduct
ionr
ateuni
tperuni
tvol
ume
q'
=-KJ.
∆T-
•
K-Thomsoncoef
fi
cient

•
∆T-
Temper
atur
egr
adi
ent

•
J-Cur
rentdensi
ty

Posi
ti
veThomsonef
fect

.Cur
rentf
lowsf
rom l
owerTt
ohi
ghT,
heati
sabsor
bedt
hroughoutt
heconduct
or

Eg:
-Sn,
Au,
Ag,
Zn,
Cd,
Sb

Negat
iveThomsonef
fect

.Cur
rentf
lowsf
rom l
owerTt
ohi
ghTheati
sli
ber
atedt
hroughoutt
heconduct
or

Eg:
-Bi
,Ni
,Pt
,Co,
Hg

Ni
llThomsonef
fect

Curr
entf
lowfrom hi
ghTt
oLowTorLowTt
ohi
ghTheati
snei
therl
i
ber
atednor
absor
bed.Eg:
-Pb

Fi
gur
eofmer
it(
zT)
Theseint
err
elat
ionsmakei
tdi
ff
icul
ttodet
ermi
net
heef
fectofv
ari
ousdesi
gnst
rat
egi
est
o
opti
mizezT.

Equati
onsbasedont hesi ngleparaboli
cbandmodel oftenunderpi
nint
uit
ionabout
ther
moelect
ri
cbehav ior.Howev er,t
heyassumet hatthereisal
waysenoughdisper
sioninal
l
dir
ecti
onstocovertheent ireenergyranger
elevanttothermoel
ectr
icphenomena.I
nstead,i
n
mostcasesofpracticalinterest
,aband’sdi
spersionchangesincurvat
ureacr
ossestheBril
l
oui
n
zone(BZ)boundaryorthogonal l
y,andtopsoutatsomemaxi mum ener
gy.
Typical
model sanddescri
ptor
sassumeabehav i
orthatIsdominatedbyelasticacoust
ic
phononscat t
eri
ng,andcanbederail
edwhenot herscatt
eri
ngmechani smsandt r
ansi
ti
onshave
l
argeeffects.
Sever
al st
udi
eshaveanaly
tical
l
yinvesti
gatedthermoelectr
ici
tyusingmodelband
str
ucturesandscatteri
ng.
,
buttheyhadoneormor eofthef ol
lowi
ngl i
mitat
ions:

(
1)t
hebandswer
epur
elypar
abol
icorpar
abol
ic-
li
kewi
thi
nfi
nit
edi
sper
sion;

(
2)onl
yasi
ngl
eisot
ropi
cbandwasconsi
der
ed;

(
3)model
sforscat
ter
ingand/ortr
ansportwer
ebasedonconstantl
if
eti
mes,const
ant
meanf
reepat
hs,oratbestscat
ter
ingpropor
ti
onalt
othedensi
tyofstat
es(DOS).

Tomor egener allyaddr essesthetopicofoptimal bandst r

ucture,t
heycr eatemor ereal
ist
ic
model soli
d-statebandst r
uctur
esandmor efait
hfull
ymodel carri
erscatter i
ngduet omul t
ipl
e
sources.Ourbandst ructuresareproper
lyconf i
nedtoaf init
eBZwi thsmoot hinversi
onof
upwardpar a-bolicit
yt odownwar dparaboli
cityfordescri
bingconduct ionst ates.
Wemodi f
y
establ
ishedf ormul aef orvari
ousscatteri
ngmechani smsdef ormation-pot enti
alscatt
eri
ng
(DPS),pol
ar-optical scatter
ing(POS),andionized-i
mpur i
tyscatteri
ng( I
IS) —ast ocapturethe
eff
ectsofinv ert
edpar abolici
ty,
anisotr
opy,andbandmul tipl
ici
tyoncar rierlif
etimes.

t
hekeyrol
eisplay
edbyζ,
.ref
ertoitasthe“t
hermoel
ectri
cconducti
vi
ty”
;intheOnsager
–Cal
l
en
f
ormul
ati
on.Thati
s,ζr
epr
esentsthechargeconduct
ivi
tyduet
ot her
maldriv
ingfor
ce
,whereVisthecel
lvol
ume,EFistheFermi l
evel
,f(
E)i
stheFer
mi–Dir
acdist
ribut
ion,
andΣ(E)=
v2(
E)τ(E)
D(E)i
sthespect
ralconduct
ivi
ty,
composedofgroupvel
oci
ty(v
),l
if
etime(τ),
and
DOS(D).

Byusi
ngt
heal
labov
eequat
ionst
heygotgoodr
esul
t.ThezTgeti
ncr
eased.

STRATEGI
ESTOI
MPROVEzTVALUE
•
Phonongl
assel
ect
roncr
yst
al
phononglass/
electr
oncryst
alreferstocompositemat erial
sormul t
ilayer
swherethe
materi
als/
component st
hatcontribut
eelectri
calconducti
v i
tyaredif
ferentfr
om t
he
materi
als/
component st
hatarepoort hermalconductors.Theformermet al
l
icr
egionsar
e
prev
entedfrom causi
ngalargethermal conduct
ivi
tybykeepi ngthem smal l
.

Skutt
erudi
tesandcalthr
atesar
etwotypesofcryst
alst
ruct
uresthathave‘
cages’thatcanhost
vari
ousguestatoms.Thesetypesofcr
yst
alscanhavedimini
shedthermalconductiv
itybecause
theguestr
attl
i
nginsidethecagecanscat
terphonons.

asemi
conduct
inghostf
ramewor
kwi
thgoodel
ect
ri
cal
conduct
ivi
tyl
i
kei
ncr
yst
als,
whi
l
ethe
extr
emet hermalmoti
on" r
att
li
ng"oft hel
oosel
yboundguestat
omsscatter
sphononsandreduces
thether
mal conduct
ivi
tyasinglasses.Thi
sapproachi
susedforskut
ter
udi
tesandcl
athr
ates.

•
PhononLi
qui
del
ect
roncr
yst
al
Sol
idstatemat er
ialsl
iketradi
ti
onalglassesandcryst
alspropagateheatt
hrough
l
ongitudi
nalandtransversewav es.Thereductionofl
att
icethermalconducti
vi
tyi
nt hese
tr
aditi
onalsol
idmat eri
alsisli
mitedtothevalueofaglass.Howev er
,aliqui
ddoesnot
propagatesheervi
brations.Asar esul
t,al
iquidmateri
alshouldhavelessheat
conducti
ve.

Recentl
y,Li
uetal
.(2012)haveext
endedthisideausi
ngsuperioni
cconduct
ors(CuSe)t
o
el
iminat
eshearvi
brati
ons.Theyhavesuccessful
lymanagedtoachiev
eC, v
aluesbel
ow3Nk,
(t
heDulongPet
itl
i
mi tforsol
i
ds,whereNisnumberofpar t
icl
es)

Nano-
• Dimensi
onalAppr
oach

Wi
tht
hedecr
easei
ndi
mensi
onoft
hemat
eri
al,
themot
ionoft
he
el
ectr
ons(orhol
es)isconfi
nedinonedir
ecti
on,l
eadi
ngt
oachangei
nthe
shapeoft
heelect
ronicdensi
tyofst
ates(DOS).

(
i)Si
sdi
rect
lyr
elat
edt
othesl
opeoft
heDOSatt
heFer
misur
faceBM 77K

(i
i)Boundar
yscat
teri
ngattheint
erfacer
educesthekmuchmor et
hant
he
canleadtosuper
iorTEpr
opert
iesinnanost
ruct
uredmat
eri
als.

•
Sel
ect
ionofSemi
conduct
or
(
Bipol
areffect
):
-Inrelat
ivel
ynar
rowband-gapt
hermoelect
ri
c(TE)compoundsisa
negati
veprocessdeteri
orati
ngtheTEproper
ti
espart
icul
arl
yathighert
emper
atures.

Thebi
pol
aref
fecti
mposesr
emar
kabl
einf
luenceonal
ltheel
ect
ron-
tr
anspor
t
r
elat
edTEpar
ameters.

Di
• r
ectband-
gapsemi
conduct
or:
-Thebandgapr
epr
esent
sthemi
nimum ener
gy
dif
ferencebet
weent hetopofthevalencebandandt hebottom oft
heconduct
ionband,However
,
thetopofthevalencebandandt hebottom oftheconduct
ionbandarenotgener
all
yatthesame
val
ueoft heel
ectronmoment um.Inadi rectbandgapsemiconduct
or,
thetopoftheval
enceband
andthebottom oftheconducti
onbandoccuratt hesamevalueofmomentum.

I
•ndi
rectband-
gapsemi
conduct
or:
-I
nani
ndi
rectbandgapsemi
conduct
or,
the
maxi
mum energyoft
hevalencebandoccur
satadi
ff
erentv
alueofmoment
um t
othemi
nimum i
n
t
heconduct
ionbandener
gy .

Tr
ansportpr
oper
ti
esofdi
rect
-gapsemi
conduct
orsar
ecal
cul
atedi
nor
dert
ofi
ndt
hebest
t
her
moelect
ri
cs.

•
Enhancedscat
ter
ingofphonons-

I
ncr
easedsur
facear
eat
ovol
ume

-Gr
eat
ersur
facer
oughness

-I
ncl
usi
onofdopant
sandpoi
ntdef
ect
s

•Macr
otoNano

-Great
erdecr
easei
nther
mal
conduct
ivi
tyt
hanel
ect
ronconduct
ivi
tyf
rom decr
easei
ndi
amet
er
(3D→ 2D→ 1D)
•Cur
rentr
esear
ch

-Dev
elopmentofSi
nanowi
ret
her
moel
ect
ri
cpr
oper
ti
es

-
Adv
ancementi
nnanowi
repr
ocessi
ngofwel
l
-knownt
her
moel
ect
ri
cmat
eri
als.

•
Addedaer
ogel
tot
heBi
Te-
basedn-andp-
typeandt
op-
typeMgAgSbt
her
moel
ect
ri
c
mat
eri
alswasf
oundt
osi
gni
fi
cant
lyenhancet
hef
igur
eofmer
it(
zT)v
alues.

THERMOELECTRI
CEFFI
CIENCY
maximum eff
ici
encyofathermoel
ectr
icmateri
aldependsont
wot ermsCarnotef
fi
ciency,for
al
lheatengi
nescannotexceedCarnoteff
ici
encyDependsonthethermoel
ectr
icpropert
ies,
Seebeckcoeffi
cient
,el
ect
ri
calr
esi
stiv
ityandther
malconduct
ivi
ty
APPLI
CATI
ON
•
Ther
moel
ect
ri
cgener
ator

•
Cool
i
ngComput
ers

•
Dri
nkCool
ers

•
Rechar
gingDev
ices

•SpacePr
obes

•
Sol
arPower

•
Lowpowerr
emot
econt
rol
l
ersy
stem

•Nucl
earpowerst
ati
ons

•
Aut
omot
iveTEGs

ADVANTAGES
•
Env
ironment
alf
ri
endl
y

•
Recy
cleswast
edheatener
gy

•
Rel
i
abl
esour
ceofener
gy

•
scal
abi
l
ity

•
Lowerpr
oduct
ioncost

•
Sil
enti
noper
ati
on

•
Simpl
e,compact&saf
e

DI
SADVANTAGES
•
Lowener
gyconv
ersi
onef
fi
ciency

•
Requi
resr
elat
ivel
yconst
antheatsour
ce

•
Slowt
echnol
ogypr
ogr
essi
on

REFERENCES
1.
H.Jul
i
anGol
dsmi
d:,
Int
roduct
iont
oTher
moel
ect
ri
cit
y,Spr
ingeri
nter
nat
ional
publ
i
sher
,2010
2Ener
gyTechnol
ogi
esAr
ea,
Lawr
enceBer
kel
eyNat
ional
Labor
ator
y,Ber
kel
ey,
CA

3.
MGKanat zi
diset
al:
,Chemistry
,physi
cs,
andmateri
alscienceofther
moel
ect
ri
cmat
eri
alsn
beyondbi
smuthtel
lur
ide,Fi
rstedit
ion,
Spri
ngeri
nter
nati
onal publ
i
sher,

4.ht
tp:
//t
her
moel
ect
ri
csmat
ch.
nor
thwest
em.
edt
her
m

5.LiouiseHender
son:
,Cal
cul
ati
ngcr
yst
alpr
oper
ti
esofbi
smut
htel
l
uri
deusi
ngwi
en22,
seni
or
thesis,
2014

TEJASWIRATRE

212105014

PHY-
510

Depar
tmentofPhy
sics

MANI
TBhopal