Thermoelectric cooling and thermal switching via the non-linear phonon Peltier effect

Abstract

Investigating the non-linear transport regime in a quantum dot heat engine described by the Anderson-Holstein model, it is shown that a finite electron-phonon interaction leads to a charge induced phonon generation that stimulates a phonon current even in the absence of a thermal gradient. This gives rise to the non-linear phonon Peltier effect which shows a non-trivial dependence on varying the electron-phonon interaction. Utilizing the reversal of phonon currents via charge induced phonon accumulation, we demonstrate that the heat engine surprisingly can be cooled when coupled to a hot reservoir. In further exploring possibilities that can arise from this effect, we propose a charge-induced phonon switching mechanism.

5 pages, 5 figures