27 research outputs found

    Non-universal Scaling of Thermoelectric Efficiency in 3D and 2D Thermoelectric Semiconductors

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    We performed the first-principles calculation on common thermoelectric semiconductors Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3, SiGe, and PbTe in bulk three-dimension (3D) and two-dimension (2D). We found that miniaturization of materials does not generally increase the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) according to the Hicks and Dresselhaus (HD) theory. For example, ZT values of 2D PbTe (0.32) and 2D SiGe (0.04) are smaller than their 3D counterparts (0.49 and 0.09, respectively). Meanwhile, the ZT values of 2D Bi2Te3 (0.57) and 2D Bi2Se3 (0.43) are larger than the bulks (0.54 and 0.18, respectively), which agree with HD theory. The HD theory breakdown occurs because the band gap and band flatness of the materials change upon dimensional reduction. We found that flat bands give a larger electrical conductivity (σ) and electronic thermal conductivity (κel) in 3D materials, and smaller values in 2D materials. In all cases, maximum ZT values increase proportionally with the band gap and saturate for the band gap above 10 kBT. The 2D Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 obtain a higher ZT due to the flat corrugated bands and narrow peaks in their DOS. Meanwhile, the 2D PbTe violates HD theory due to the flatter bands it exhibits, while 2D SiGe possesses a small gap Dirac-cone band

    Hydrodynamic Navier-Stokes equations in two-dimensional systems with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

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    We study a two-dimensional (2D) electron system with a linear spectrum in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit (RSO) coupling in the hydrodynamic regime. We derive a semiclassical Boltzmann equation with a collision integral due to Coulomb interactions in the basis of the eigenstates of the system with RSO coupling. Using the local equilibrium distribution functions, we obtain a generalized hydrodynamic Navier-Stokes equation for electronic systems with RSO coupling. In particular, we discuss the influence of the spin-orbit coupling on the viscosity and the enthalpy of the system and present some of its observable effects in hydrodynamic transport

    Kerr and Faraday rotations in topological flat and dispersive band structures

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    Integer quantum Hall (IQH) states and quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) states show the same static dc response but distinct dynamical ac response. In particular, the ac anomalous Hall conductivity profile σ yx (ω) is sensitive to the band shape of QAH states. For example, dispersive QAH bands shows resonance profile without a sign change at the band gap while the IQH states shows the sign change resonance at the cyclotron energy. We argue by flattening the dispersive QAH bands, σ yx (ω) should recover to that of flat Landau bands in IQH, thus it is necessary to know the origin of the sign change. Taking a topological lattice model with tunable bandwidth, we found that the origin of the sign change is not the band gap but the van Hove singularity energy of the QAH bands. In the limit of small bandwidth, the flat QAH bands recovers σ yx (ω) of the IQH Landau bands. Because of the Hall response, these topological bands exhibit giant polarization rotation and ellipticity in the reflected waves (Kerr effect) and rotation in the order of fine structure constant in the transmitted waves (Faraday effect) with profile resembles σ yx (ω). Our results serve as a simple guide to optical characterization for topological flat bands

    Strain effects on band structure and Dirac nodal-line morphology of ZrSiSe

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    The Dirac nodal-line semimetals are new promising materials for technological applications due to their exotic properties, which originate from band structure dispersion and nodal-line behavior. We report strain effects on the band structure of ZrSiSe Dirac nodal-line semimetal through the density functional theory calculations. We found that the kz=0 Dirac nodal-line of ZrSiSe is robust to all strains under reasonable magnitude although there are significant changes in the band oscillation amplitude, bandgap, and band occupancy due to orbital interactions and the Fermi energy shift upon strains. We also found that the effective strains to tune the nodal-line and band structure are equi-biaxial tensile, uniaxial (100) tensile, and xz-plane shear strains

    Effects of topological band structure on thermoelectric transport of bismuthene

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    Two-dimensional bismuth (Bi) layer, known as bismuthene, exhibits Z2 topological bulk states due to large spin-orbit coupling that inverts the bands. Using the tight-binding method, we calculate the band structure of buckled bismuthene to understand its topological and trivial phases. We determine the thermoelectric properties for some considered phases, incorporating the edge states contribution, by using the linearized Boltzmann transport equation with a constant relaxation time approximation. It is shown that the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, actually drops in undoped topological bismuthene due to the edge effects. Surprisingly, the topological edge states enhance ZT at large doping with the Fermi energy near the bottom of bulk bands when bismuthene is nearly metallic
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