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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]
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  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.
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Skinner, Brian, & Fu, Liang. Large, nonsaturating thermopower in a quantizing magnetic field. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat2621
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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.
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@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 = {2018},
month = {5}
}
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Journal Article:
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat2621
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Cited by: 68 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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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Magnetic Field‐Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance in Dirac Semimetal Cd 3 As 2 Crystals with Different Carrier Concentrations
    journal, July 2019

    • Wang, Honghui; Luo, Xigang; Peng, Kunling
    • Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 37
    • DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201902437

    Large transverse thermoelectric figure of merit in a topological Dirac semimetal
    journal, November 2019

    • Xiang, JunSen; Hu, SiLe; Lyu, Meng
    • Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, Vol. 63, Issue 3
    • DOI: 10.1007/s11433-019-1445-4

    Thermoelectrics with a twist
    journal, November 2019

    Magnetism-induced huge enhancement of the room-temperature thermoelectric and cooling performance of p-type BiSbTe alloys
    journal, January 2020

    • Li, Cuncheng; Ma, Shifang; Wei, Ping
    • Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 13, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1039/c9ee03446c

    Impurity states in Mo 1−x M x Se 2 compounds doped with group VB elements and their electronic and thermal transport properties
    journal, January 2020

    • Zhang, Cheng; Li, Zhi; Zhang, Min
    • Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 8, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1039/c9tc05008f

    Thermoelectric transport in torsional strained Weyl semimetals
    journal, February 2019

    • Muñoz, Enrique; Soto-Garrido, Rodrigo
    • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 125, Issue 8
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5051966

    Optimal band gap for improved thermoelectric performance of two-dimensional Dirac materials
    journal, July 2019

    • Hasdeo, Eddwi H.; Krisna, Lukas P. A.; Hanna, Muhammad Y.
    • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 126, Issue 3
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5100985

    Effect of charge renormalization on the electric and thermoelectric transport along the vortex lattice of a Weyl superconductor
    journal, July 2019

    Thermoelectric transport coefficients of a Dirac electron gas in high magnetic fields
    journal, October 2019

    Thermopower in an anisotropic two-dimensional Weyl semimetal
    journal, January 2020

    Soft phonons and ultralow lattice thermal conductivity in the Dirac semimetal Cd 3 As 2
    journal, November 2019

    Thermopower in an anisotropic two-dimensional Weyl semimetal
    text, January 2018

    Thermoelectric Hall conductivity and figure of merit in Dirac/Weyl materials
    text, January 2019

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