Achievement

The Linke lab is researching the transverse thermoelectric properties of multi-terminal mesoscopic junctions with a central scatterer. Prior to this research, there were no experimental findings demonstrating the thermoelectric capabilities of these types of junctions. Furthermore, they have demonstrated that these transverse thermoelectric effects should be ubiquitous in mesoscale multi-terminal junctions that contain electronic constrictions on par with the Fermi wavelength. A key finding of trainee Jason Matthews has made is the Figure of Merit (FOM) for a transverse thermoelectric material. While the FOM for conventional isotropic thermoelectric materials has been known for some time, the FOM for transverse thermoelectric materials was incomplete. Like the FOM for isotropic materials before it, the FOM for transverse thermoelectric materials should lead to a fundamental understanding about how to fabricate efficient transverse thermoelectric devices.