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The best thermoelectric.
Open accessAbstract
What electronic structure provides the largest figure of merit for thermoelectric materials? To answer that question, we write the electrical conductivity, thermopower, and thermal conductivity as integrals of a single function, the transport distribution. Then we derive the mathematical function for the transport distribution, which gives the largest figure of merit. A delta-shaped transport distribution is found to maximize the thermoelectric properties. This result indicates that a narrow distribution of the energy of the electrons participating in the transport process is needed for maximum thermoelectric efficiency. Some possible realizations of this idea are discussed.
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Cited by
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Heremans, J. P., Wiendlocha, B., & Chamoire, A. M. (2012) · Energy Environ. Sci. · doi:10.1039/c1ee02612g · Cited by 965
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Metadata
- Authors
- Mahan, G. D., & Sofo, J. O.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 1996-07-23
- Volume
- 93
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 7436-7439
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- OpenAlex
- W2071317896
- Cited by
- 1,709
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 6.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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- Mahan, G. D., & Sofo, J. O. (1996). The best thermoelectric. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.15.7436
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