Demonstration of efficient Thomson cooler by electronic phase transition
Source abstract
Abstract
In the 1850s, Lord Kelvin predicted the existence of a thermoelectric cooling effect inside a whole material (the Thomson effect) according to thermodynamics1, in addition to the Peltier effect that enables cooling at the junction between dissimilar materials. However, the Thomson effect is usually negligible (ΔT/T < 2%) in conventional thermoelectric materials because the entropy change in charge carriers is fairly small2, leading to the guiding principles for advancing thermoelectric cooling to be based on the framework of the Peltier effect and that the figure of merit ZT should be maximized to optimize performance. Here, we demonstrate a Thomson-effect-enhanced thermoelectric cooler using a large Thomson coefficient (τ) induced by the direct manipulation of charge entropy through an electronic phase transition in YbInCu4. The devices achieve a steady temperature span (ΔT) of >5 K from T = 38 K. Our findings suggest not only another approach to advance thermoelectric coolers in addition to improving ZT but also technologically opens opportunities for solid-state cryogenic cooling applications.
Source: europepmc · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices · Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies · Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (37)
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