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Title: Large, nonsaturating thermopower in a quantizing magnetic field

Abstract

The thermoelectric effect is the generation of an electrical voltage from a temperature gradient in a solid material due to the diffusion of free charge carriers from hot to cold. Identifying materials with a large thermoelectric response is crucial for the development of novel electric generators and coolers. We theoretically consider the thermopower of Dirac/Weyl semimetals subjected to a quantizing magnetic field. We contrast their thermoelectric properties with those of traditional heavily doped semiconductors and show that, under a sufficiently large magnetic field, the thermopower of Dirac/Weyl semimetals grows linearly with the field without saturation and can reach extremely high values. Our results suggest an immediate pathway for achieving record-high thermopower and thermoelectric figure of merit, and they compare well with a recent experiment on Pb1–xSnxSe.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Excitonics (CE). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
OSTI Identifier:
1499936
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0001299; SC0001088; SC0010526; FG02-09ER46577
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Science Advances
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 2375-2548
Publisher:
AAAS
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY

Citation Formats

Skinner, Brian, and Fu, Liang. Large, nonsaturating thermopower in a quantizing magnetic field. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat2621.
Skinner, Brian, & Fu, Liang. Large, nonsaturating thermopower in a quantizing magnetic field. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat2621
Skinner, Brian, and Fu, Liang. Fri . "Large, nonsaturating thermopower in a quantizing magnetic field". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat2621. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1499936.
@article{osti_1499936,
title = {Large, nonsaturating thermopower in a quantizing magnetic field},
author = {Skinner, Brian and Fu, Liang},
abstractNote = {The thermoelectric effect is the generation of an electrical voltage from a temperature gradient in a solid material due to the diffusion of free charge carriers from hot to cold. Identifying materials with a large thermoelectric response is crucial for the development of novel electric generators and coolers. We theoretically consider the thermopower of Dirac/Weyl semimetals subjected to a quantizing magnetic field. We contrast their thermoelectric properties with those of traditional heavily doped semiconductors and show that, under a sufficiently large magnetic field, the thermopower of Dirac/Weyl semimetals grows linearly with the field without saturation and can reach extremely high values. Our results suggest an immediate pathway for achieving record-high thermopower and thermoelectric figure of merit, and they compare well with a recent experiment on Pb1–xSnxSe.},
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aat2621},
journal = {Science Advances},
number = 5,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri May 25 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Fri May 25 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 77 works
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Figures / Tables:

Fig. 1. Fig. 1.: Schematic depiction of the E × B drift of carriers in a strong magnetic field. Electrons (labeled e) and holes (labeled h+) drift in the same direction under the influence of crossed electric and magnetic fields. Both signs of carrier contribute additively to the heat current in themore » x direction and subtractively to the electric current in the x direction, which leads to a large Peltier heat Πxx and therefore to a large thermopower Sxx.« less

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Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.