IngentaConnect Surface-Plasmon Coupled Nonequilibrium Thermoelectric Refrigerato...

Authors: Yang, Ronggui; Narayanaswamy, Arvind; Chen, Gang

Source: Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, Volume 2, Number 1, March 2005 , pp. 75-87(13)

Publisher: American Scientific Publishers

Abstract:

Thermoelectric energy conversion devices rely on electron transport for energy conversion, while phonon heat conduction is usually detrimental for the energy conversion efficiency. Higher energy conversion efficiency is possible if the electrons and phonons can be decoupled. This paper proposes and investigates surface-plasmon coupled nonequilibrium thermoelectric devices. In such devices, the energy transport from the heat source of a power generator or the cooling target of a refrigerator to the thermoelectric element is limited to electrons through the coupling of surface-plasmons across a vacuum gap of the order of tens of nanometers. In the power generation mode, this method of thermal-energy coupling allows the creation of hot electrons in the thermoelectric element. In the refrigeration mode, cold electrons created in the thermoelectric element can be coupled to the cooling target through the surface-plasmons. Under certain conditions, these surface-plasmon coupled nonequilibrium thermoelectric devices perform significantly better than conventional thermoelectric devices based on the same materials.

Keywords: SURFACE PLASMON; THERMOELECTRICS; NONEQUILIBRIUM; REFRIGERATOR; POWER GENERATOR

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1166/jctn.2005.005

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Surface-Plasmon Coupled Nonequilibrium Thermoelectric Refrigerators and Power Generators