Thermionics, Thermoelectrics, and Nanotechnology: New Possibilities for Old Ideas

Author

Khoshaman, Amir H. ; Fan, Harrison D. E. ; Koch, Andrew T. ; Sawatzky, George A. ; Nojeh, Alireza

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Volume

8

Issue

2

fYear

2014

fDate

Jun-14

Firstpage

4

Lastpage

15

Abstract

The term solar cell usually brings photovoltaics to mind. Indeed, the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity has dominated the realm of solar-energy harvesting for the past 50 years. However, researchers have now begun to re-evaluate the possibilities of thermionic and thermoelectric energy conversion because of some of their attractive features. These processes involve the conversion of heat to electricity, or light to heat to electricity, and have been investigated for over a century. Advances in nanoscale materials and fabrication techniques have now opened new doors for the application of these effects.

Keywords

nanofabrication; nanostructured materials; thermionic conversion; thermoelectric conversion; heat conversion; nanofabrication; nanoscale material; nanotechnology; photovoltaic solar cell; solar-energy harvesting; sunlight conversion; thermionics; thermoelectric energy conversion; thermoelectrics; Electrodes; Materials; Metals; Photonics; Resistance heating; Thermionic emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nanotechnology Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1932-4510

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MNANO.2014.2313172

Filename

6809972