Contents

• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1 Fundamentals of Thermoelectrics
  • 1.2 Device Efficiency
  • 1.3 Thermoelectric Materials
  • 1.4 Nanostructured Materials for Thermoelectrics
  • 1.5 Graphene- and Silicon-based Nanostructures
  
  
• 2. Physical Models
  • 2.1 Graphene
    • 2.1.1 Electronic Structure
    • 2.1.2 Phononic Structure
  • 2.2 Silicon
    • 2.2.1 Electronic Structure
    • 2.2.2 Phononic Structure
  • 2.3 Electron Transport
    • 2.3.1 Landauer Formula
    • 2.3.2 Transmission Function
  • 2.4 Phonon Transport
    • 2.4.1 Landauer Formula
    • 2.4.2 Boltzmann Transport Equation
  
  
• 3. Thermoelectric Properties of Graphene-Based Nanostructures
  • 3.1 Thermoelectric Properties of AGNRs
    • 3.1.1 Ballistic Thermoelectric Properties of AGNRs
    • 3.1.2 The Role of Line-Edge-Roughness
  • 3.2 Thermoelectrics of Graphene Antidot Lattices
    • 3.2.1 Geometrical Structure
    • 3.2.2 Electronic Structure
    • 3.2.3 Phononic Structure
    • 3.2.4 Thermoelectric Figure of Merit
  • 3.3 Thermoelectrics Engineering in ZGNRs
    • 3.3.1 The Role of Extended Line Defects
    • 3.3.2 The Role of Substrate Impurities
    • 3.3.3 The Role of Line-Edge-Roughness
    • 3.3.4 The Effect of Roughness on Phonon Transport
    • 3.3.5 Thermoelectric Figure of Merit
  
  
• 4. Ballistic Thermal Properties of Silicon-Based Nanostructures
  • 4.1 Silicon Nanowires
    • 4.1.1 Anisotropy in Ultra-Narrow Silicon Nanowires
    • 4.1.2 Phonon Properties of Ultra-Narrow Silicon Nanowires
    • 4.1.3 Discussion
  • 4.2 Silicon Thin Layers
    • 4.2.1 Anisotropy in Ultra-Thin Silicon Layers
    • 4.2.2 Analysis and Discussion
    • 4.2.3 Remarks
  
  
• 5. Anomalous Diameter Dependence of Thermal Conductivity in Ultra-Thin Silicon Nanowires
  • 5.1 Phonon Transmission Function
  • 5.2 The Long-Wavelength Problem
    • 5.2.1 Scattering Rates
  • 5.3 The Effect of Phonon-Phonon Scattering
  • 5.4 The Effect of Phonon-Boundary Scattering
  
  
• 6. Thermoelectric Figure of Merit of Ultra-Narrow Silicon Nanowires
  • 6.1 Thermal Conductivity
  • 6.2 Thermoelectric Figure of Merit
    • 6.2.1 The Effects of Boundary Scattering
    • 6.2.2 Electron versus Phonon Transports in Rough Nanowires
    • 6.2.3 Diffusive Thermoelectric Figure of Merit
  
  
• 7. Summary and Conclusions
• Bibliography
  • 7.1 Publication Statistics