Multi-Carrier Thermal Transport in Electronic and Energy Conversion Devices

TL;DR

This review explores the complex mechanisms of nonequilibrium multi-carrier thermal transport in electronic, spintronic, and energy conversion devices, emphasizing microscopic interactions and strategies to manipulate thermal and electrical transport.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental interactions and recent advances in understanding multi-carrier thermal transport in various energy devices.

Findings

Electron-phonon interactions influence phonon dynamics and thermalization.

Spin-phonon interactions enable spin thermoelectric effects.

Ion and molecule transport depend on local configurations affecting energy conversion efficiency.

Abstract

Nonequilibrium multi-carrier thermal transport is essential for both scientific research and technological applications in electronic, spintronic, and energy conversion devices. This article reviews the fundamentals of phonon, electron, spin, and ion transport driven by temperature gradients in solid-state and soft condensed matters, and the microscopic interactions between energy/charge carriers that can be leveraged for manipulating electrical and thermal transport in energy conversion devices, such as electron-phonon coupling, spin-phonon interaction, and ion-solvent interactions, etc. In coupled electron-phonon transport, we discuss the basics of electron-phonon interactions and their effects on phonon dynamics, thermalization, and nonequilibrium thermal transport. For the phonon-spin interaction, nonequilibrium transport formulation is introduced first, followed by the physics of spin thermoelectric effect and strategies to manipulate them. Contributions to thermal conductivity from magnons as heat carriers are also reviewed. For coupled transport of heat and ions/molecules, we highlight the importance of local molecular configurations that determine the magnitude of the electrochemical gradient, which is the key to improving the efficiency of low-grade heat energy conversion.