Roche, B., Roulleau, P., Jullien, T. et al. (4 more authors) (2015) Harvesting dissipated energy with a mesoscopic ratchet. Nature Communications, 6. 6738. ISSN 2041-1723
Abstract
The search for new efficient thermoelectric devices converting waste heat into electrical energy is of major importance. The physics of mesoscopic electronic transport offers the possibility to develop a new generation of nanoengines with high efficiency. Here we describe an all-electrical heat engine harvesting and converting dissipated power into an electrical current. Two capacitively coupled mesoscopic conductors realized in a two-dimensional conductor form the hot source and the cold converter of our device. In the former, controlled Joule heating generated by a voltage-biased quantum point contact results in thermal voltage fluctuations. By capacitive coupling the latter creates electric potential fluctuations in a cold chaotic cavity connected to external leads by two quantum point contacts. For unequal quantum point contact transmissions, a net electrical current is observed proportional to the heat produced.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Nature Publishing Group. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Nature Communications. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 07 Jul 2015 14:12 |
Last Modified: | 29 Mar 2018 00:47 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7738 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/ncomms7738 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:87857 |