title: Quantum Effects in the Thermoelectric Power Factor of Low-Dimensional Semiconductors.
abstract: We theoretically investigate the interplay between the confinement length L and the thermal de Broglie wavelength Λ to optimize the thermoelectric power factor of semiconducting materials. An analytical formula for the power factor is derived based on the one-band model assuming nondegenerate semiconductors to describe quantum effects on the power factor of the low-dimensional semiconductors. The power factor is enhanced for one- and two-dimensional semiconductors when L is smaller than Λ of the semiconductors. In this case, the low-dimensional semiconductors having L smaller than their Λ will give a better thermoelectric performance compared to their bulk counterpart. On the other hand, when L is larger than Λ, bulk semiconductors may give a higher power factor compared to the lower dimensional ones.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan.
authors.forename: Nguyen T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan.
authors.forename: Eddwi H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Hasdeo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan.
authors.forename: Ahmad R T
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Nugraha
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA.|Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA.
authors.forename: Mildred S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Dresselhaus
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan.
authors.forename: Riichiro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saito