Thermoelectric Effect and Applications

Thennoelectric effect refers to a class of phenomena in which a temperature difference creates an electric potential or an electric potential creates a temperature difference. In modem technical usage, the term refers collectively to three interrelated effects the Seebeck effect [5], the Peltier effect [6], and the Thomson effect [7]. In present dissertation, we mainly focus our interests on the former two effects. 

The performance of thermoelectric material itself is quantified by a dimensionless figure of merit, ZT, which is defined as 

When incorporated into a thermoelectric device, this ZT value determines the maximum energy conversion efliciency for thermoelectric power generation ((Jmax) [10] and thermoelectric cooling ( /max) [11]. as shown in following Eqs. 1.2 and 1.3  

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