Thermoelectric transport of mesoscopic conductors coupled to voltage and thermal probes

Details Thermoelectric transport of mesoscopic conductors coupled to voltage and thermal probes Thermoelectric transport of mesoscopic conductors coupled to voltage and thermal probes

2011-07-18

arxiv.org/abs/1107.3576v2

Phys. Rev. B 84, 201307(R) (2011)

Physics

Condensed Matter

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

4+ pages, 2 figures and supplementary material. Published version

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevB.84.201307

We investigate basic properties of the thermopower (Seebeck coefficient) of phase-coherent conductors under the influence of dephasing and inelastic processes. Transport across the system is caused by a voltage bias or a thermal gradient applied between two terminals. Inelastic scattering is modeled with the aid of an additional probe acting as an ideal potentiometer and thermometer. We find that inelastic scattering reduces the conductor's thermopower and, more unexpectedly, generates a magnetic-field asymmetry in the Seebeck coefficient. The latter effect is shown to be a higher-order effect in the Sommerfeld expansion. We discuss our result using two illustrative examples. First, we consider a generic mesoscopic system described within random matrix theory and demonstrate that thermopower fluctuations disappear quickly as the number of probe modes increases. Second, the asymmetry is explicitly calculated in the quantum limit of a ballistic microjunction. We find that asymmetric scattering strongly enhances the effect and discuss its dependence on temperature and Fermi energy.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Thermoelectric transport of mesoscopic conductors coupled to voltage and thermal probes does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Thermoelectric transport of mesoscopic conductors coupled to voltage and thermal probes, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Thermoelectric transport of mesoscopic conductors coupled to voltage and thermal probes will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-513087