Metamaterial thermoelectric device

Abstract

Temperature gradient across a thermoelectric device is a keystone to generate electricity based on Seebeck effect. Here, we propose a metamaterial thermoelectric device that is able to generate electricity even under homogeneous temperature environment. Metamaterial perfect absorber fabricated on a thermoelectric device electrode absorbs thermal radiation emitted from the surrounding environment, resulting in a generation of local heating. The local heating propagates to the underneath thermoelectric device through a metal electrode, resulting in an additional thermal gradient across the device. We examined the metamaterial thermoelectric device performance put in a homogeneous temperature environment at 423 K and found that an additional thermal gradient of 0.5 K is added to the bismuth telluride thermoelectric device.