Spin and charge thermopower of resonant tunneling diodes

Journal Article · Mon Mar 17 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4868722· OSTI ID:22257731

Nicolau, Javier H.; Sánchez, David ^[1]

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1. Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems IFISC (UIB-CSIC), E-07122 Palma de Mallorca (Spain)

We investigate thermoelectric effects in quantum well systems. Using the scattering approach for coherent conductors, we calculate the thermocurrent and thermopower both in the spin-degenerate case and in the presence of giant Zeeman splitting due to magnetic interactions in the quantum well. We find that the thermoelectric current at linear response is maximal when the well level is aligned with the Fermi energy and is robust against thermal variations. Furthermore, our results show a spin voltage generation in response to the applied thermal bias, giving rise to large spin Seebeck effects tunable with external magnetic fields, quantum well tailoring, and background temperature.

• OSTI ID: 22257731
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
MAGNETIC FIELDS
QUANTUM WELLS
SPIN
TUNNEL DIODES
ZEEMAN EFFECT