The Lorenz function: Its properties at optimum thermoelectric figure-of-merit

Abstract

The Lorenz function is investigated for different scattering mechanisms, temperatures, chemical potentials, and charge carrier concentrations. We show that at optimum thermoelectric figure-of-merit, the deviation from the degenerate and non-degenerate limits is significant, where the magnitude of the deviation is determined by the scattering mechanism. Furthermore, the Lorenz functions are parameterized as a function of charge carrier concentration, temperature, and effective mass for different scattering mechanisms.