Superior Thermoelectric Design via Antireflection Enabled Lineshape Engineering

We demonstrate theoretically a viable design of a superior thermoelectric generator based on “antireflection” enabled lineshape engineering. Using a minimal double-barrier structure, we show that enabling an antireflection design over it facilitates a bandpass transmission spectrum, which significantly enhances the thermoelectric performance. It is demonstrated that the best operating regime of this device offers a maximum power in the range of 0.7-0.9 MW/m
²
at efficiencies ranging from 46% to 54% of Carnot efficiency. The physics of charge and heat transport in the ballistic regime of operation helps us to gain additional insights on how a large number of transverse current carrying modes boost the output power, and simultaneously, how the diminishing effects of high-energy parasitic currents aid the efficiency. Our device design also manifests a high immunity to the destructive effect of self-consistent charging, which aids the enhancement of the output power at high efficiencies. Finally, a comparative study with a conventional double barrier thermoelectric is presented in terms of standard performance parameters, which clarifies the potential benefits of enabling the antireflective region.