Joseph P. Heremans

Thermoelectricity describes the physics of energy conversion, from heat to electric power, and from electric power to heat or cooling power in solids. The working fluid consists of the conduction electrons. Despite a long and distinguished history, recent developments in nanotechnologies have revolutionized the field. It was recognised in the 1990s that low-dimensional systems should result in materials with much better efficiencies than bulk materials, through low-dimensional effects on both charge carriers and lattice waves. This has been experimentally demonstrated in the early 2000s. This book aims to be the first monograph to comprehensively describe low-dimensional thermoelectricity in a systematic manner. Following the classic format of monographs in this area, it is written so that low-dimensional effects follow naturally from the transport equations. It is aimed at professional researchers in academia and industry, and graduate students in materials engineering, applied physics and chemistry.