A Theoretical Investigation of Thermoelectrics in Nanowires Embedded With a Quantum Dot Superlattice

Abstract: Thermoelectric elements have long been anticipated to challenge conventional solutions for converting heat to electricity. However, the revolution has been stalled due to the inability to reach efficiencies comparable to their conventional counterparts, while retaining a high output power. In this work we will model a thermoelectric element based on nanowires embedded with a quantum dot superlattice using a transport model dependent on coherent transport of electrons, and show that it is theoretically possible to both increase the output power as well as reach an efficiency close to the theoretical maximum limit.