Adeline Crépieux

Mixed, charge and heat noises in thermoelectric nanosystems

Mixed, charge and heat current fluctuations as well as thermoelectric differential conductances are considered for non-interacting nanosystems connected to reservoirs. Using the Landauer-Büttiker formalism, we derive general expressions for these quantities and consider their possible relationships in the entire ranges of temperature, voltage and coupling to the environment or reservoirs. We introduce a dimensionless quantity given by the ratio between the product of mixed noises and the product of charge and heat noises, distinguishing between the auto-ratio defined in the same reservoir and the cross-ratio between distinct reservoirs. From the linear response regime to the high-voltage regime, we further specify the analytical expressions of differential conductances, noises and ratios of noises, and examine their behavior in two concrete nanosystems: a quantum point contact in an ohmic environment and a single energy level quantum dot connected to reservoirs. In the linear response regime, we find that these ratios are equal to each other and are simply related to the figure of merit. They can be expressed in terms of differential conductances with the help of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. In the non-linear regime, these ratios radically distinguish between themselves as the auto-ratio remains bounded by one, while the cross-ratio exhibits rich and complex behaviors. In the quantum dot nanosystem, we moreover demonstrate that the thermoelectric efficiency can be expressed as a ratio of noises in the non-linear Schottky regime. In the intermediate voltage regime, the cross-ratio changes sign and diverges, which evidences a change of sign in the heat cross-noise.

Heat-charge mixed noise and thermoelectric efficiency fluctuations

The close relationship between the noise and the thermoelectric conversion is studied in a quantum dot using a quantum approach based on the non-equilibrium Green function technique. We show that both the figure of merit and the efficiency can be written in term of noise and we highlight the central role played by the correlator between the charge current and the heat current that we call the mixed noise. After giving the expression of this quantity as an integral over energy, we calculate it, first in the linear response regime, next in the limit of small transmission through the barriers (Schottky regime) and finally in the intermediate regime. We discuss the notion of efficiency fluctuations and we also see here that the mixed noise comes into play.

Mixed electrical-heat noise spectrum in a quantum dot

Using the Keldysh Green function technique, we calculate the finite-frequency correlator between the electrical current and the heat current flowing through a quantum dot connected to reservoirs. At equilibrium, we find that this quantity, called mixed noise, is linked to the thermoelectric ac conductance by the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Out of equilibrium, we discuss its spectrum and find evidence of the close relationship between the mixed noise and the thermopower. We study the spectral coherence and identify the conditions to have a strong correlation between the electrical and heat currents. The change in the spectral coherence due to the presence of a temperature gradient between the reservoirs is also highlighted.

Finite-frequency noise in a non-interacting quantum dot

We calculate the non-symmetrized finite-frequency NS-FF noise for a single-level quantum dot connected to reservoirs in the spinless non-interacting case. The calculations are performed within the framework of the Keldysh Greens function formalism in the wide band approximation limit. We establish the general formula for NS-FF noise for any values of temperature, frequency and bias voltage. The electron transfer processes from one to the other reservoir act via the transmission amplitude and transmission coefficient depending on the energy. By taking the symmetrized version of this expression, we show that our result coincides with the expression of the finite frequency noise obtained by Buttiker using the scattering theory. We also give the explicit analytical expression for the NS-FF noise in the zero temperature limit. By performing numerical calculations, we finally discuss the evolution of the NS-FF noise spectrum when varying temperature, dot energy level, and coupling strength to the reservoirs, revealing a large variety of behaviors with different symmetry properties.

Out-of-equilibrium Kondo effect in a quantum dot: Interplay of magnetic field and spin accumulation

We present a theoretical study of low temperature nonequilibrium transport through an interacting quantum dot in the presence of Zeeman magnetic field and current injection into one of its leads. By using a self-consistent renormalized equation of motion approach, we show that the injection of a spin-polarized current leads to a modulation of the Zeeman splitting of the Kondo peak in the differential conductance. We find that an appropriate amount of spin accumulation in the lead can restore the Kondo peak by compensating the splitting due to magnetic field. By contrast when the injected current is spin-unpolarized, we establish that both Zeeman-split Kondo peaks are equally shifted and the splitting remains unchanged. Our results quantitatively explain the experimental findings reported in KOBAYASHI T. et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 036804 (2010). These features could be nicely exploited for the control and manipulation of spin in nanoelectronic and spintronic devices.

Entropy production in photovoltaic-thermoelectric nanodevices from the non-equilibrium Green’s function formalism

We discuss some thermodynamic aspects of energy conversion in electronic nanosystems able to convert light energy into electrical or/and thermal energy using the non-equilibrium Greens function formalism. In a first part, we derive the photon energy and particle currents inside a nanosystem interacting with light and in contact with two electron reservoirs at different temperatures. Energy conservation is verified, and radiation laws are discussed from electron non-equilibrium Greens functions. We further use the photon currents to formulate the rate of entropy production for steady-state nanosystems, and we recast this rate in terms of efficiency for specific photovoltaic-thermoelectric nanodevices. In a second part, a quantum dot based nanojunction is closely examined using a two-level model. We show analytically that the rate of entropy production is always positive, but we find numerically that it can reach negative values when the derived particule and energy currents are empirically modified as it is usually done for modeling realistic photovoltaic systems.

Correlations between charge and heat currents in an interacting quantum dot

We consider an interacting quantum dot connected to two reservoirs driven at distinct voltage/temperature and we study the correlations between charge and heat currents first as a function of the applied voltage bias, and second as a function of the temperature gradient between the two reservoirs. The Coulomb interactions in the quantum dot are treated using the Hartree approximation and the dot occupation number is determined self-consistently. The correlators exhibit structures in their voltage dependency which are highly non-linear when the coupling between the dot and the reservoirs is weak, and their behavior with temperature is non-monotonous. Moreover the sign of heat cross-correlator can change contrary to what happens with the charge cross-correlator which is always negative. The presence of Coulomb interactions enlarges the domain of voltage in which the heat cross-correlator is negative.

Non-symmetrized quantum noise in a Kondo quantum dot

The fluctuations of electrical current provide information on the dynamics of electrons in quantum devices. Understanding the nature of these fluctuations in a quantum dot is thus a crucial step insofar as this system is the elementary brick of quantum circuits. In this context, we develop a theory for calculating the quantum noise at finite frequency in a quantum dot connected to two reservoirs in the presence of interactions and for any symmetry of the couplings to the reservoirs. This theory is developed in the framework of the Keldysh non-equilibrium Green function technique. We establish an analytical expression for the quantum noise in terms of the various transmission amplitudes between the reservoirs and of some effective transmission coefficient which we define. We then study the noise as a function of the dot energy level and the bias voltage. The effects of both Coulomb interactions in the dot and asymmetric couplings with the reservoirs are characterized.

Getting information from the mixed electrical-heat noise

We give a classification of the different types of noise in a quantum dot, for variable temperature, voltage and frequency. It allows us first to show which kind of information can be extracted from the electrical noise, such as the ac-conductance or the Fano factor. And next, to classify the mixed electrical-heat noise, and to identify in which regimes information on the Seebeck coefficient, on the thermoelectric figure of merit, or on the thermoelectric efficiency can be obtained.

Out-of-Equilibrium Fluctuation-Dissipation Relations Verified by the Electrical and Thermoelectrical AC-Conductances in a Quantum Dot

The electrical and heat currents flowing through a quantum dot are calculated in the presence of a time-modulated gate voltage with the help of the out-of-equilibrium Green function technique. From the first harmonics of the currents, we extract the electrical and thermoelectrical trans-admittances and ac-conductances. Next, by a careful comparison of the ac-conductances with the finite-frequency electrical and mixed electrical-heat noises, we establish the fluctuation-dissipation relations linking these quantities, which are thus generalized out-of-equilibrium for a quantum system. It is shown that the electrical ac-conductance associated to the displacement current is directly linked to the electrical noise summed over reservoirs, whereas the relation between the thermoelectrical ac-conductance and the mixed noise contains an additional term proportional to the energy step that the electrons must overcome when traveling through the junction. A numerical study reveals however that a fluctuation-dissipation relation involving a single reservoir applies for both electrical and thermoelectrical ac-conductances when the frequency dominates over the other characteristic energies.