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Electrothermally driven current vortices in inhomogeneous bipolar semiconductors

D. Fu, A. X. Levander, R. Zhang, J. W. Ager, III, and J. Wu
Phys. Rev. B 84, 045205 – Published 8 July 2011
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Abstract

We report an effect that occurs in semiconductors where internal electrical fields interact with a temperature gradient. Steady current vortices and a magnetic field develop in the system, even without external carrier injection. The effect is electrodynamic, energy dissipative, and fundamentally distinct from any previously described electrothermal effects. In bipolar structures the effective thermopower can be significantly modified by the vortices. Joule heating arising from the vortices reduces the thermal conductivity by an amount comparable to the electronic thermal conductivity.

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  • Received 9 February 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.045205

©2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

D. Fu1,2,3, A. X. Levander1,4, R. Zhang2,3, J. W. Ager, III4, and J. Wu1,4,*

  • 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
  • 2Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Materials, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 3Nanjing National Laboratory of Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 4Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

  • *To whom correspondence should be addressed: wuj@berkeley.edu

See Also

Temperature Difference Leads to Magnetism

Saswato R. Das
Phys. Rev. Focus 28, 2 (2011)

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Vol. 84, Iss. 4 — 15 July 2011

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