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The Physics of Electric Field Effect Thermoelectric Devices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

V. Sandomirsky
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
A. V. Butenko
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
R. Levin
Affiliation:
The College of Judea & Samaria, Ariel 44837, Israel
Y. Schlesinger
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
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Abstract

We describe here a novel approach to the subject of thermoelectric devices. The current best thermoelectrics are based on heavily doped semiconductors or semimetal alloys. We show that utilization of electric field effect or ferroelectric field effect, not only provides a new route to this problem, bypassing the drawbacks of conventional doping, but also offers significantly improved thermoelectric characteristics. We present here model calculation of the thermoelectric figure of merit in thin films of Bi and PbTe, and also discuss several realistic device designs.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2001

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References

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