Nanowires: A route to efficient thermoelectric devices

Miniaturization of electronic devices aims at manufacturing ever smaller products, from mesoscopic to nanoscopic sizes. This trend is challenging because the increased levels of dissipated power demands a better understanding of heat transport in small volumes. A significant amount of the consumed energy in electronics is transformed into heat and dissipated to the environment. Thermoelectric materials offer the possibility to harness dissipated energy and make devices less energy-demanding. Heat-to-electricity conversion requires materials with a strongly suppressed thermal conductivity but still high electronic conduction. Nanowires can meet nicely these two requirements because enhanced …