Controlled thermoelectric properties of low-dimensional charge carrier systems in semiconductor heterostructures

Abstract: Thermoelectric properties of low-dimensional charge-carrier systems in high-quality semiconductor heterostructures are studied experimentally and theoretically. The project focuses on systems, in which the energy spectrum is controllable to a high extent via external parameters. They can be viewed as model systems for the engineering of nanoscale objects and devices with tailored thermoelectric properties. Experiments are performed on two-dimensional systems, embedded in nanoscrolls, quasi-one-dimensional wires as well as zero-dimensional coupled quantum dot systems in modulation doped III-V heterostructures. Device structures are prepared by means of electron-beam lithography. Consequences for the thermopower due to the coexistence of coherent and incoherent transport processes will be addressed in detailed theoretical studies.

This project is running in the framework of the

DFG-SPP 1386 “Nanostrukturierte Thermoelektrika” (Thermoelectric Nanostructures)

Cooperation partners are:

Würzburg University,
Humboldt-University Berlin,
Departamento de Química Física, Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao,
and Univ. Regensburg.