Thermoelectric transport properties in 3D Dirac semimetal Cd3As2.

Thermoelectric transport properties, namely, electrical conductivity, electronic thermal conductivity, and diffusion thermopower are theoretically investigated in 3D Dirac semimetal Cd3As2. We employ Boltzmann transport formalism and consider the electron scattering by charged impurities, short-range disorder, acoustic phonons, and optical phonons. The Boltzmann transport equation is solved using the Ritz iteration technique to obtain the first-order perturbation distribution function for the interaction of electrons with inelastic polar optical phonons scattering. The numerical results are presented in the temperature range 2-300 K with the electron concentration in the range (0.1-10) × 1018 cm-3. It is found that, at low temperature < ~70 K transport coefficients are dominated by charged impurity scattering and at higher temperature the phonon scattering is found to be dominant. The validity of Wiedemann-Franz law is examined. Recently observed experimental results are explained by our theory.

Effects of a piezoelectric substrate on phonon-drag thermopower in monolayer graphene.

The phonon-drag thermopower is studied in a monolayer graphene on a piezoelectric substrate. The phonon-drag contribution [Formula: see text] from the extrinsic potential of piezoelectric surface acoustic (PA) phonons of a piezoelectric substrate (GaAs) is calculated as a function of temperature T and electron concentration n s. At a very low temperature, [Formula: see text] is found to be much greater than [Formula: see text] of the intrinsic deformation potential of acoustic (DA) phonons of the graphene. There is a crossover of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] at around ~5 K. In graphene samples of about >10 µm size, we predict S g ~ 20 µV at 10 K, which is much greater than the diffusion component of the thermopower and can be experimentally observed. In the Bloch-Gruneisen (BG) regime T and n s dependence are, respectively, given by the power laws [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) ~ T 2(T 3) and [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] ~ [Formula: see text]. The T(n s) dependence is the manifestation of the 2D phonons (Dirac phase of the electrons). The effect of the screening is discussed. Analogous to Herring's law (S g µ p ~ T -1), we predict a new relation S g µ p ~ [Formula: see text], where µ p is the phonon-limited mobility. We suggest that the n s dependent measurements will play a more significant role in identifying the Dirac phase and the effect of screening.

Phonon-drag thermopower in a monolayer MoS2.

The theory of phonon-drag thermopower S(g) is developed in a monolayer MoS(2), considering the electron­acoustic phonon interaction via deformation potential (DP) and piezoelectric (PE) coupling, as a function of temperature T and electron concentration n(s). DP coupling of TA (LA) phonons is taken to be unscreened (screened) and PE coupling of LA and TA phonons is taken to be screened. S(g) due to DP coupling of TA phonons is found to be dominant over all other mechanisms and in the Bloch­Grüneisen regime it gives power law S(g) ~ T3. All other mechanisms give S(g) ~ T(5). These power laws are characteristic of two-dimensional (2D) phonons with linear dispersion. Screening enhances the exponent of T by 2 and strongly suppresses S(g) due to the large effective mass of the electrons. We find that S(g), due to screened DP and PE couplings is nearly the same in contrast to the results in GaAs heterojunctions. Also, we predict that S(g) ~ n(s)(-3/2), a characteristic of 2D electrons with parabolic relation. With the increasing (decreasing) T(n(s)) its exponent decreases. For comparison, we give diffusion thermopower S(d). At very low T and high n(s), S(d) ~ T and n(2)(-1). S(d) is found to be greater than S(g) for about T < 2­3 K. The results are compared with those in conventional 2D electron gas and graphene.

Phonon-drag thermopower in an armchair graphene nanoribbon.

We calculate the phonon-drag thermopower S(g) of an armchair graphene nanoribbon (AGNR) in the boundary scattering regime of phonons. S(g) is studied as a function of temperature, Fermi energy and width of the AGNR. At very low temperatures T, S(g) is exponentially suppressed and an activated behavior is observed which is characteristic of one-dimensional carriers. This is in contrast to the power law dependence in graphene in the Bloch-Grüneisen regime. However, at higher T, S(g) in the AGNR levels off. S(g) also shows strong dependence on Fermi energy and width of the AGNR. The magnitude of S(g) in the AGNR is compared with that in single-wall carbon nanotube and graphene.