Nonlinear Thermoelectricity with Electron-Hole Symmetric Systems.
Phys Rev Lett
; 124(10): 106801, 2020 Mar 13.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32216390
ABSTRACT
In the linear regime, thermoelectric effects between two conductors are possible only in the presence of an explicit breaking of the electron-hole symmetry. We consider a tunnel junction between two electrodes and show that this condition is no longer required outside the linear regime. In particular, we demonstrate that a thermally biased junction can display an absolute negative conductance, and hence thermoelectric power, at a small but finite voltage bias, provided that the density of states of one of the electrodes is gapped and the other is monotonically decreasing. We consider a prototype system that fulfills these requirements, namely, a tunnel junction between two different superconductors where the Josephson contribution is suppressed. We discuss this nonlinear thermoelectric effect based on the spontaneous breaking of electron-hole symmetry in the system, characterize its main figures of merit, and discuss some possible applications.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Phys Rev Lett
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Itália