A Thermoelectric Heat Engine with Ultracold Atoms

Abstract

Cold Thermoelectrics Thermoelectric effects—such as the creation of a voltage drop in response to a thermal gradient (known as the Seebeck effect)—can be used for a number of applications, including converting wasted heat into power. However, especially in solids that exhibit electronic interactions, this type of behavior is not well understood. Brantut et al. (p. 713 , published online 24 October; see the Perspective by Heikkilä ) studied the Seebeck effect in the very controllable setting of cold atomic gases. Two initially identical reservoirs of 6 Li atoms were connected using a quasi–two-dimensional channel, and the particle current after heating one of the reservoirs was measured. The atoms moved from the warmer to the cooler reservoir, the extent of which fit with theoretical predictions as the disorder in the channel and its geometry were varied.