815 research outputs found
The Nature of Thermopower in Bipolar Semiconductors
The thermoemf in bipolar semiconductors is calculated. It is shown that it is
necessary to take into account the nonequilibrium distribution of electron and
hole concentrations (Fermi quasilevels of the electrons and holes). We find
that electron and hole electric conductivities of contacts of semiconductor
samples with connecting wires make a substantial contribution to thermoemf.Comment: 17 pages, RevTeX 3.0 macro packag
New physical principles of contact thermoelectric cooling
We suggest a new approach to the theory of the contact thermoelectric cooling
(Peltier effect). The metal-metal, metal-n-type semiconductor, metal-p-type
semiconductor, p-n junction contacts are analyzed. Both degenerate and
non-degenerate electron and hole gases are considered. The role of
recombination in the contact cooling effect is discussed by the first time.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, revtex
Thermal Diffusion of a Two Layer System
In this paper thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of a two layer
system is examined from the theoretical point of view. We use the one
dimensional heat diffusion equation with the appropriate solution in each layer
and boundary conditions at the interfaces to calculate the heat transport in
this bounded system. We also consider the heat flux at the surface of the samle
as boundary condition instead of using a fixed tempertaure. From this, we
obtain an expression for the efective thermal diffusivity of the composite
sample in terms of the thermal diffusivity of its constituent materials
whithout any approximations.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, RevTeX v. 3.0 macro packag
Electron and Phonon Temperature Relaxation in Semiconductors Excited by Thermal Pulse
Electron and phonon transient temperatures are analyzed in the case of
nondegenerate semiconductors. An analytical solution is obtained for
rectangular laser pulse absorption. It is shown that thermal diffusion is the
main energy relaxation mechanism in the phonon subsystem. The mechanism depends
on the correlation between the sample length and the electron cooling length in
an electron subsystem. Energy relaxation occurs by means of the electron
thermal diffusion in thin samples (), and by means of the electron-phonon
energy interaction in thick samples (). Characteristic relaxation times are
obtained for all the cases, and analysis of these times is made. Electron and
phonon temperature distributions in short and long samples are qualitatively
and quantitatively analyzed for different correlations between the laser pulse
duration and characteristic times.Comment: 33 pages, 16 figure
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