Thermoelectric Cooperative Effect in Three-Terminal Elastic Transport through a Quantum Dot

TL;DR

This paper investigates a three-terminal quantum dot thermoelectric device that can generate two electrical powers simultaneously, demonstrating a cooperative effect that enhances efficiency and power output beyond traditional single-power systems.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of thermoelectric cooperative effect in three-terminal elastic transport, showing how dual power generation can improve performance.

Findings

Constructive addition of electrical powers enhances efficiency and power.

Maximum efficiency and power can be achieved through cooperative effects.

The effect occurs across various system parameters.

Abstract

The energy efficiency and power of a three-terminal thermoelectric nanodevice are studied by considering elastic tunneling through a single quantum dot. Facilitated by the three-terminal geometry, the nanodevice is able to generate simultaneously two electrical powers by utilizing only one temperature bias. These two electrical powers can add up constructively or destructively, depending on their signs. It is demonstrated that the constructive addition leads to the enhancement of both energy efficiency and output power for various system parameters. In fact, such enhancement, dubbed as thermoelectric cooperative effect, can lead to maximum efficiency and power no less than when only one of the electrical power is harvested.