Thomas Lee Elifritz

Thermoelectric transport with electron-phonon coupling and electron-electron interaction in molecular junctions, Jie Ren, Jian-Xin Zhu, James E. Gubernatis, Chen Wang and Baowen Li, Phys. Rev. B 85, 155443 (2012).

http://prb.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v85/i15/e155443

http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.5208

Results show that at low temperatures, resonances of the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, occur around the sides of resonances of electronic conductance but drop dramatically to zero at exactly these resonant points. We find ZT can be enhanced by increasing electron-phonon coupling and Coulomb repulsion, and an optimal enhancement is obtained when these two interactions are competing. Our results indicate a great potential for single molecular junctions as good thermoelectric devices over a wide range of temperatures.

This paper reveals the possibility of stunning … shocking enhancements of thermoelectric efficiency (ZT figure of merit) across a wide range of temperatures in engineered arrays of molecular junctions.

lifeform@charter.net