Coupled Quantum - Scattering Modeling of Thermoelectric Properties of Si/Ge/Si Quantum Well Superlattice

Confined structures presumably offer enhanced performance of thermoelectric devices. 1) Interfaces and boundaries create scattering sites for phonons, which reduces the thermal conductivity. 2) Reduced dimensionality increases the local density of states near the Fermi level, which increases the Seebeck coefficient. From these two phenomena, the net effect should be an increase in ZT, the performance parameter used to evaluate different materials and structures. These effects have been measured and modeled, but none of the models attempts to quantify the electron-phonon coupled effects particularly in the regime where quantum and scattering influences are found. Using the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) approach, quantum wells composed of Si and Ge are studied and the important physics isolated. Results show a competing effect between the decrease in the electrical conductivity due to scattering with the increase in electrical conductivity with doping, leading to 77% decrease in the value of the power factor for the case of electron-optical phonon scattering.