Special Invited Lecture: Thermoelectric Energy Conversion in Nanostructures

Thermoelectric effects enable direct energy conversion between heat and electricity. Various size effects can be explored to increase the thermoelectric performance of nanostructures compared to bulk. Boundary scattering reduces the phonon thermal conductivity, and quantum confinement and interface energy filtering can improve the electronic power factor. Theoretical and experimental results are described for thin films, nanowires, and nanocomposites.