Title :
Thermoelectric Energy Conversion in Nanostructures
Author :
Chen, Gang ; Dames, Chris ; Henry, Asegun
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mech. Eng., Massachusetts Inst. of Technol., Cambridge, MA
Abstract :
Thermoelectric effects enable direct energy conversion between heat and electricity. Various size effects can be explored to increase the thermoelectric performance of nanostructures compared to bulk. Boundary scattering reduces the phonon thermal conductivity, and quantum confinement and interface energy filtering can improve the electronic power factor. Theoretical and experimental results are described for thin films, nanowires, and nanocomposites
Keywords :
nanocomposites; nanowires; phonons; thermal conductivity; thermoelectric conversion; thermoelectricity; boundary scattering; direct energy conversion; phonon thermal conductivity; quantum confinement; thermoelectric effects; thermoelectric energy conversion; Energy conversion; Filtering; Nanostructures; Particle scattering; Phonons; Potential well; Resistance heating; Thermal conductivity; Thermal factors; Thermoelectricity;
Conference_Titel :
Electron Devices Meeting, 2006. IEDM '06. International
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA
Print_ISBN :
1-4244-0439-8
Electronic_ISBN :
1-4244-0439-8
DOI :
10.1109/IEDM.2006.346837
