Effect of Magnetic Zigzag Edges in Graphene-like Nanoribbons on the Thermoelectric Power Factor
S. Krompiewskia and G. Cunibertib,c,d
aInstitute of Molecular Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, M. Smoluchowskiego 17, 60-179 PoznaƄ, Poland
bInstitute for Materials Science and Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
cCenter for Advancing Electronics Dresden, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
dDresden Center for Computational Materials Science (DCMS), TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
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This study shows that magnetic edge states of graphene-like nanoribbons enhance effectively the thermoelectric performance. This is due to the antiparallel alignment of magnetic moments on opposite zigzag edges and the confinement effect, which jointly lead to the appearance of a gap in the electronic energy spectrum. Consequently, the Seebeck coefficient as well as the thermoelectric power factor get strongly enhanced (with respect to other alignment cases) at room temperature and energies not far away from the charge neutrality point. Moreover the corresponding figure of merit (ZT) is also improved as a result of the reduced electronic thermal conductance.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.133.535
PACS numbers: 73.63.Kv,72.25.-b,73.50.Lw