Thermoelectric properties of two-dimensional Dirac materials

TL;DR

This paper investigates the thermoelectric properties of two-dimensional Dirac materials using Boltzmann transport calculations, highlighting how gap opening can enhance the figure of merit (ZT) for potential thermoelectric applications.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of thermoelectric parameters in gapped Dirac systems, showing conditions for achieving ZT values greater than 1.

Findings

Gap opening enhances ZT in Dirac materials.

Optimal ZT can exceed 1 when phonon thermal conductivity is low.

Thermoelectric efficiency depends on electronic and phononic properties.

Abstract

We performed Boltzmann transport calculation to obtain the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, electronic thermal conductivity, and thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) for Dirac systems. We found an enhancement of ZT due to the gap opening. When the phonon thermal conductivity is small enough, the optimum ZT in gapped Dirac system can be larger than 1, which is preferable for thermoelectric applications.