Thermoelectric performance of P-N-P abrupt heterostructures vertical to temperature gradient

TL;DR

This paper introduces a model for P-N-P heterostructures aligned with temperature gradients, significantly enhancing thermoelectric efficiency by controlling key properties and achieving unprecedented ZT values.

Contribution

The work presents a novel P-N-P heterostructure model that independently controls thermoelectric properties and greatly improves performance metrics.

Findings

Seebeck coefficient up to 3312 V/K

ZTmax values of 45 or 425

Performance surpasses bulk materials and films

Abstract

We present a model for P-N-P abrupt heterostructures vertical to temperature gradient to improve the thermoelectric performance. The P-N-P heterostructure is considered as an abrupt bipolar junction transistor due to an externally applied temperature gradient paralleled to depletion layers. Taking Bi2Te3 and Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 as N-type and P-type thermoelectric materials respectively for example, we achieve the purpose of controlling the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical conductivity independently while amplifying operation power. The calculated results show that the Seebeck coefficient can reach 3312V/K, and the ZTmax values of this model are 45 or 425, which are tens or even hundreds of times greater than those of bulk materials and films.