title: Staircase Quantum Dots Configuration in Nanowires for Optimized Thermoelectric Power.
abstract: The performance of thermoelectric energy harvesters can be improved by nanostructures that exploit inelastic transport processes. One prototype is the three-terminal hopping thermoelectric device where electron hopping between quantum-dots are driven by hot phonons. Such three-terminal hopping thermoelectric devices have potential in achieving high efficiency or power via inelastic transport and without relying on heavy-elements or toxic compounds. We show in this work how output power of the device can be optimized via tuning the number and energy configuration of the quantum-dots embedded in parallel nanowires. We find that the staircase energy configuration with constant energy-step can improve the power factor over a serial connection of a single pair of quantum-dots. Moreover, for a fixed energy-step, there is an optimal length for the nanowire. Similarly for a fixed number of quantum-dots there is an optimal energy-step for the output power. Our results are important for future developments of high-performance nanostructured thermoelectric devices.
authors.affiliation: Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre, College of Engineering, Swansea University, Bay Campus, Swansea, SA1 8QQ, UK.
authors.forename: Lijie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, &Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, 1 Shizi Street, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jiang