Thermoelectric transport perpendicular to thin film heterostructures using Monte Carlo technique

TL;DR

This paper employs Monte Carlo simulations to analyze thermoelectric transport in thin film heterostructures, revealing size-dependent effects on the Seebeck coefficient and transitions between ballistic and diffusive transport regimes.

Contribution

It introduces a Monte Carlo approach to model thermoelectric transport in heterostructures, highlighting size effects and transport regime transitions.

Findings

Seebeck coefficient increases as barrier size decreases

Transition from ballistic to diffusive transport is characterized

Monte Carlo method effectively models heterostructure transport

Abstract

The Monte Carlo technique is used to calculate electrical as well as thermoelectric transport properties across thin film heterostructures. We study a thin InGaAsP barrier layer sandwiched between two InGaAs contact layers, when the barrier thickness is in 50nm-2000nm range. We found that with decreasing size, the effective Seebeck coefficient is increased substantially. The transition between pure ballistic thermionic transport and fully diffusive thermoelectric transport is also described.