Tsuneyoshi Nakayama

Phonon-glass electron-crystal thermoelectric clathrates : Experiments and theory

Type-I clathrate compounds have attracted a great deal of interest in connection with the search for efficient thermoelectric materials. These compounds constitute networked cages consisting of nano-scale tetrakaidecahedrons (14 hedrons) and dodecahedrons (12 hedrons), in which the group 1 or 2 elements in the periodic table are encaged as the so-called rattling guest atom. It is remarkable that, though these compounds have crystalline cubic-structure, they exhibit glass-like phonon thermal conductivity over the whole temperature range depending on the states of rattling guest atoms in the tetrakaidecahedron. In addition, these compounds show unusual glass-like specific heats and THz-frequency phonon dynamics, providing a remarkable broad peak almost identical to those observed in topologically disordered amorphous materials or structural glasses, the so-called Boson peak. An efficient thermoelectric effect is realized in compounds showing these glass-like characteristics. This decade, a number of experimental works dealing with type-I clathrate compounds have been published. These are diffraction experiments, thermal and spectroscopic experiments in addition to those based on heat and electronic transport. These form the raw materials for this article based on advances this decade. The subject of this article involves interesting phenomena from the viewpoint of not only physics but also from the view point of the practical problem of elaborating efficient thermoelectric materials. This review presents a survey of a wide range of experimental investigations of type-I clathrate compounds, together with a review of theoretical interpretations of the peculiar thermal and dynamic properties observed in these materials.

Thermoelectric transport in hybrid materials incorporating metallic nanowires in polymer matrix

We propose a type of thermoelectric materials incorporating metallic nanowires in insulating polymers. It is shown that the hybridization of poor thermoelectric materials such as metal and polymer can achieve high performance of thermoelectricity. The electrical conductivity of such hybrid materials is controllable by the volume fraction of metallic nanowires which is above a percolation critical value. Meanwhile, the Seebeck coefficient shows a weak dependence on the volume fraction. Low thermal conductivities required for achieving the high figure of merit can be fulfilled from both the low thermal conductivity of polymer and the interfacial thermal resistance between nanowires and polymer. In this regard, we propose the concept “electron-percolation thermal-insulator,” providing a guide to design efficient hybrid thermoelectric materials.

Localization-delocalization transition in self-dual quasi-periodic lattices

Within the framework of the Aubry-Andre model, one kind of self-dual quasi-periodic lattice, it is known that a sharp transition occurs from all eigenstates being extended to all being localized. The common perception for this type of quasi-periodic lattice is that the self-duality excludes the appearance of a finite critical energy separating localized from extended states. In this work, we propose a multi-chromatic quasi-periodic lattice model retaining the self-duality identical to the Aubry-Andre model. In this model we find numerically a well-defined localization-delocalization transition at the mobility edges in contrast with the Aubry-Andre model. As a result, the diffusion of wave packet exhibits a transition from ballistic to diffusive motion, and back to ballistic motion. We point out that experimental realizations of the predicted transition can be accessed with light waves in photonic lattices and matter waves in optical lattices.

Interfacial thermal conductance across metal-insulator/semiconductor interfaces due to surface states

We point out that the effective channel for the interfacial thermal conductance, the inverse of Kapitza resistance, of metal-insulator/semiconductor interfaces is governed by the electron-phonon interaction mediated by the surface states allowed in a thin region near the interface. Our detailed calculations demonstrate that the interfacial thermal conductance across Pb/Pt/Al/Au-diamond interfaces are only slightly different among these metals, and reproduce well the experimental results of the interfacial thermal conductance across metal-diamond interfaces observed by Stoner et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 1563 (1992)] and most recently by Hohensee et al. [Nature Commun. 6, 6578 (2015)].

Dimensional crossover of heat conduction in amorphous polyimide nanofibers

The mechanism of thermal conductivity in amorphous polymers, especially polymer fibers, is unclear in comparison with that in inorganic materials. Here, we report the observation of a crossover of heat conduction behavior from three dimensions to quasi-one dimension in polyimide nanofibers at a given temperature. A theoretical model based on the random walk theory has been proposed to quantitatively describe the interplay between the inter-chain hopping and the intra-chain hopping in nanofibers. This model explains well the diameter dependence of thermal conductivity and also speculates on the upper limit of thermal conductivity of amorphous polymers in the quasi-1D limit.

Spin-dependent Seebeck effect in asymmetric four-terminal systems with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

We propose a new type of spin-dependent Seebeck effect (SDSE) emerging from the Rashba spin-orbit coupling in asymmetric four-terminal electron systems. This system generates spin currents or spin voltages along the longitudinal direction parallel to the temperature gradient in the absence of magnetic fields. The remarkable result arises from the breaking of the reflection symmetry along the transverse direction. In the meantime, the SDSE along the transverse direction, the so-called the spin Nernst effect, with spin currents or spin voltages perpendicular to the temperature gradient, can be simultaneously realized in our system. We further find that it is possible to use the temperature differences between four leads to tune the spin-dependent Seebeck coefficients.

Spin-dependent Seebeck effect in Aharonov–Bohm rings with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin–orbit interactions

Abstract We theoretically investigate the spin-dependent Seebeck effect in an Aharonov–Bohm mesoscopic ring in the presence of both Rashba and Dresselhaus spin–orbit interactions under magnetic flux perpendicular to the ring. We apply the Greens function method to calculate the spin Seebeck coefficient employing the tight-binding Hamiltonian. It is found that the spin Seebeck coefficient is proportional to the slope of the energy-dependent transmission coefficients. We study the strong dependence of spin Seebeck coefficient on the Fermi energy, magnetic flux, strength of spin–orbit coupling, and temperature. Maximum spin Seebeck coefficients can be obtained when the strengths of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin–orbit couplings are slightly different. The spin Seebeck coefficient can be reduced by increasing temperature and disorder.