Fluctuation-dissipation in thermoelectric sensors

Tran NAM, Dutt AS, Pulumati NB, Reith H, Hu A, Dumont A, Nielsch K, Tremblay AMS, Schierning G, Reulet B, Szkopek T (2023)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2023

Journal

EPL - Europhysics Letters Institute of Physics: EPL

Book Volume: 141

Article Number: 26002

Journal Issue: 2

DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/acb009

Abstract

Thermoelectric materials exhibit correlated transport of charge and heat. The Johnson-Nyquist noise formula 4k B T R for the spectral density of voltage fluctuations accounts for fluctuations associated solely with Ohmic dissipation. Applying the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, we generalize the Johnson-Nyquist formula for thermoelectrics, finding an enhanced voltage fluctuation spectral density 4k B T R(1 + Z D T) at frequencies below a thermal cut-off frequency f T, where Z D T is the dimensionless thermoelectric device figure of merit. The origin of the enhancement in voltage noise is thermoelectric coupling of temperature fluctuations. We use a wideband , integrated thermoelectric micro-device to experimentally confirm our findings. Measuring the Z D T enhanced voltage noise, we experimentally resolve temperature fluctuations with a root mean square amplitude of at a mean temperature of 295 K. We find that thermoelectric devices can be used for thermometry with sufficient resolution to measure the fundamental temperature fluctuations described by the fluctuation-dissipation theorem.

Involved external institutions

Université de Sherbrooke CA Canada (CA) McGill University CA Canada (CA) Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden e.V. (IFW) / Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden DE Germany (DE) Universität Bielefeld DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Tran, N.A.M., Dutt, A.S., Pulumati, N.B., Reith, H., Hu, A., Dumont, A.,... Szkopek, T. (2023). Fluctuation-dissipation in thermoelectric sensors. EPL - Europhysics Letters, 141(2). https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/acb009

MLA:

Tran, N. A. M., et al. "Fluctuation-dissipation in thermoelectric sensors." EPL - Europhysics Letters 141.2 (2023).

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