Priyadarshi Pankaj, Vargiamidis Vassilios, Neophytou Neophytos
School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
Materials (Basel). 2024 Jul 16;17(14):3522. doi: 10.3390/ma17143522.
Using Monte Carlo electronic transport simulations, coupled self-consistently with the Poisson equation for electrostatics, we explore the thermoelectric power factor of nanoengineered materials. These materials consist of alternating highly doped and intrinsic regions on the scale of several nanometers. This structure enables the creation of potential wells and barriers, implementing a mechanism for filtering carrier energy. Our study demonstrates that by carefully designing the nanostructure, we can significantly enhance its thermoelectric power factor compared to the original pristine material. Importantly, these enhancements stem not only from the energy filtering effect that boosts the Seebeck coefficient but also from the utilization of high-energy carriers within the wells and intrinsic barrier regions to maintain relatively high electronic conductivity. These findings can offer guidance for the design and optimization of new-generation thermoelectric materials through improvements in the power factor.
通过与静电泊松方程自洽耦合的蒙特卡罗电子输运模拟，我们探索了纳米工程材料的热电功率因数。这些材料由尺度为几纳米的交替高掺杂区和本征区组成。这种结构能够形成势阱和势垒，实现一种过滤载流子能量的机制。我们的研究表明，通过精心设计纳米结构，与原始的纯净材料相比，我们可以显著提高其热电功率因数。重要的是，这些增强不仅源于提高塞贝克系数的能量过滤效应，还源于利用阱和本征势垒区内的高能载流子来维持相对较高的电导率。这些发现可为通过改善功率因数来设计和优化新一代热电材料提供指导。
