Revision as of 20:37, 26 September 2011

Course Information

Instructor: Eric Toberer

Research Assistant: Aaron Martinez

Students: Kyle Conrad and Michael Dixon

Project Title: Predicting the electronic behavior of thermoelectric materials via the Boltzmann transport equation

Objective

Understanding electronic transport in semiconductors materials is critical for the development of advanced thermoelectric materials of energy harvesting. To date, modeling thermoelectric materials typically involves applying solutions to the Boltzmann transport equation within the limit of a single parabolic band. This senior design project will consider the effect of non parabolic bands, multiple bands, and inter-band scattering on the predicted properties of thermoelectric materials.

The goal of this project is to use the advanced transport expressions to determine an optimal thermoelectric band structure and develop guidelines for the selection of thermoelectric materials.

Transport Theory

Electrical Current

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