Modelling of Electron Transport in Thermoelectric Devices based on Semiconductor Heterostructures

Abstract: The electron transmission probability in semiconductor heterostructures made of potential barriers whose height, width and separation are modified to follow different Gaussian functions are calculated using the transfer matrix theory. These structures then serve as electron obstacles in thermoelectric devices in order to increase the output power and efficiency. When computing and comparing these two measures of performance in each case, it is found that barriers with Gaussian heights are most suitable for devices used at room temperatures, while barriers with Gaussian widths and constant separation perform best at cold temperatures. The impact of the number of barriers of the semiconductor heterostructure and the variance of the Gaussian is studied for the two most promising types of structures by calculating the maximum power and corresponding efficiency.