A. Glatz and I. S. Beloborodov 2009 EPL 87 57009 doi:10.1209/0295-5075/87/57009
A. Glatz1 and I. S. Beloborodov2
Show affiliationsWe study thermoelectric properties of inhomogeneous nanogranular materials for weak tunneling conductance between the grains, gt<1. We calculate the thermopower and figure of merit taking into account the shift of the chemical potential and the asymmetry of the density of states in the vicinity of the Fermi surface. We show that the weak coupling between the grains leads to a high thermopower and low thermal conductivity resulting in relatively high values of the figure of merit on the order of one. We estimate the temperature at which the figure of merit has its maximum value for two- and three-dimensional samples. Our results are applicable for many emerging materials, including artificially self-assembled nanoparticle arrays.
72.15.Jf Thermoelectric and thermomagnetic effects
73.63.-b Electronic transport in nanoscale materials and structures
Condensed matter: electrical, magnetic and optical
Issue 5 (September 2009)
Received 7 July 2009, accepted for publication 26 August 2009
Published 24 September 2009
A. Glatz and I. S. Beloborodov 2009 EPL 87 57009
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