First-principles thermodynamic theory of Seebeck coefficients
Abstract
To begin, thermoelectric effects, measured by the Seebeck coefficients, refer to the phenomena in which a temperature difference or gradient imposed across a thermoelectric material induces an electrical potential difference or gradient, and vice versa, enabling the direct conversion of thermal and electric energies. All existing first-principles calculations of Seebeck coefficients have been based on the Boltzmann kinetic transport theory. In this work, we present a fundamentally different method for the first-principles calculations of Seebeck coefficients without using any assumptions of the electron-scattering mechanism, being in contrast to the traditional theory by Cutler and Mott that shows the dependence of the Seebeck coefficient on the scattering mechanisms. It is shown that the Seebeck coefficient is a well-defined thermodynamic quantity that can be determined from the change in the chemical potential of electrons induced by the temperature change and thus can be computed solely based on the electronic density of states through first-principles calculations at different temperatures. The proposed approach is demonstrated using the prototype PbTe and SnSe thermoelectric materials.
- Authors:
-
- The Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1544153
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1484325
- Grant/Contract Number:
- FG02-07ER46417; AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review B
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 98; Journal Issue: 22; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9950
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Citation Formats
Wang, Yi, Hu, Yong-Jie, Bocklund, Brandon, Shang, Shun-Li, Zhou, Bi-Cheng, Liu, Zi-Kui, and Chen, Long-Qing. First-principles thermodynamic theory of Seebeck coefficients. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.98.224101.
Wang, Yi, Hu, Yong-Jie, Bocklund, Brandon, Shang, Shun-Li, Zhou, Bi-Cheng, Liu, Zi-Kui, & Chen, Long-Qing. First-principles thermodynamic theory of Seebeck coefficients. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.224101
Wang, Yi, Hu, Yong-Jie, Bocklund, Brandon, Shang, Shun-Li, Zhou, Bi-Cheng, Liu, Zi-Kui, and Chen, Long-Qing. Mon .
"First-principles thermodynamic theory of Seebeck coefficients". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.224101. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1544153.
@article{osti_1544153,
title = {First-principles thermodynamic theory of Seebeck coefficients},
author = {Wang, Yi and Hu, Yong-Jie and Bocklund, Brandon and Shang, Shun-Li and Zhou, Bi-Cheng and Liu, Zi-Kui and Chen, Long-Qing},
abstractNote = {To begin, thermoelectric effects, measured by the Seebeck coefficients, refer to the phenomena in which a temperature difference or gradient imposed across a thermoelectric material induces an electrical potential difference or gradient, and vice versa, enabling the direct conversion of thermal and electric energies. All existing first-principles calculations of Seebeck coefficients have been based on the Boltzmann kinetic transport theory. In this work, we present a fundamentally different method for the first-principles calculations of Seebeck coefficients without using any assumptions of the electron-scattering mechanism, being in contrast to the traditional theory by Cutler and Mott that shows the dependence of the Seebeck coefficient on the scattering mechanisms. It is shown that the Seebeck coefficient is a well-defined thermodynamic quantity that can be determined from the change in the chemical potential of electrons induced by the temperature change and thus can be computed solely based on the electronic density of states through first-principles calculations at different temperatures. The proposed approach is demonstrated using the prototype PbTe and SnSe thermoelectric materials.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.98.224101},
journal = {Physical Review B},
number = 22,
volume = 98,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {12}
}
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