Electron-phonon enhancement of thermoelectricity in metals

Abstract

The many-body effect of the electron-phonon interaction on the electron-diffusion thermopower is calculated microscopically. It is found that the thermopower is enhanced not only by the mass enhancement but also significantly by a new mechanism, arising from the electron-phonon modification of the quasiparticle velocity. The result is justified, using a simple phenomenological treatment based on the Landau-Boltzmann theory. The effect of the above result on some of the magnetic-thermoelectric phenomena is discussed semiclassically.