Thermal Rectification Effects of Multiple Semiconductor Quantum Dot Junctions

Abstract

On the basis of the multiple-energy-level Anderson model, we theoretically study the thermoelectric effects of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) in the nonlinear response regime. The charge and heat currents in the sequential tunneling process are calculated by Keldysh Green's function technique. The thermal rectification effect can be observed for such a multiple QD junction system, whereas the rectification efficiency is significantly affected by the tunneling rate, size fluctuation, and location distribution of QDs. We also find that the charge current rectification with respect to temperature bias can be observed.