PubTeX output 1998.05.12:1647

Thermoelectric effects which are responsible for the direct conversion of heat energy into electrical energy and vice versa have recently received renewed attention [1]. So far optimal thermoelectric response has been achieved in traditional doped semiconductors, but recent improvements in both the synthesis of correlated electron systems and the theoretical methods for treating them have generated new interest in the thermoelectric properties of correlated materials. The thermoelectric performance of a material reflects its ability to convert applied voltages into temperature gradients while minimizing the irreversible effects of Joule heating and thermal conduction. This can be quantified by the so-called dimensionless figure of merit denoted here by ZT T :