Kondo physics and orbital degeneracy interact to boost thermoelectrics on the nanoscale

TL;DR

This paper explores how Kondo physics and orbital degeneracy in a double-orbital quantum dot can significantly enhance thermoelectric performance, offering insights into optimizing nanoscale energy conversion devices.

Contribution

It demonstrates that a double-orbital Anderson dot boosts thermoelectric efficiency and power output via Kondo effects, providing a new approach to nanoscale thermoelectric optimization.

Findings

Power output and efficiency are strongly enhanced in the Kondo regime with two orbitals.

An optimal operating point benefits from increased Kondo temperature in the two-orbital setup.

The approximation based on transport coefficients remains valid beyond expected limits.

Abstract

We investigate the transport through a nanoscale device consisting of a degenerate double-orbital Anderson dot coupled to two uncorrelated leads. We determine the thermoelectric transport properties close to the one-electron regime and compare them to a corresponding single-orbital dot. The linear and nonlinear regimes are addressed, the latter via a non-equilibrium generalization of the non-crossing approximation based on the Keldysh formalism. Power output and efficiency in the Kondo regime are shown to be strongly enhanced through the presence of a second orbital. We predict an experimentally relevant optimal operating point which benefits from the concomitant increase of the Kondo temperature in the two-orbital setup. An approximation based on the transport coefficients and fulfilling the thermodynamic balance is proven to remain appropriate even far beyond the expected range of validity of such approaches. Finally, the double-orbital Kondo regime reveals itself as a promising candidate to avoid, at least partially, the generic dilemma between optimal thermoelectric efficiency on one hand, and fair power output on the other.