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Theoretical Modeling of Thermoelectricity in Bi Nanowires

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

X. Sun ,
Z. Zhang ,
G. Dresselhaus ,
M. S. Dresselhaus ,
J. Y. Ying  and
G. Chen
X. Sun
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
Z. Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
G. Dresselhaus
Affiliation:
Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 32139
M. S. Dresselhaus
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
J. Y. Ying
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
G. Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024
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Abstract

Bismuth as a semimetal is not a good thermoelectric material in bulk form because of the approximate cancellation between the electron and hole contributions. However, quantum confinement can be introduced by making Bi nanowires to move the lowest conduction subband edge up and the highest valence subband edge down to get a one-dimensional (1D) semiconductor at some critical wire diameter dc. A theoretical model based on the basic band structure of bulk Bi is developed to predict the dependence of these quantities on wire diameter and on the crystalline orientation of the bismuth nanowires. Numerical modeling is performed for trigonal, binary and bisectrix crystal orientations. By carefully tailoring the Bi wire diameter and carrier concentration, substantial enhancement in the thermoelectric figure of merit is expected for small nanowire diameters.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 545: Symposium Z – Thermoelectric Materials 1998 - The Next Generation… , 1998 , 87
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1999

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References

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