Local thermoelectric effects in wide-gap semiconductors

Abstract

Experimental confirmation of the appearance of local thermal electromotive forces, which were previously found in structures based on silicon p–n junctions, is obtained. The current–voltage and frequency characteristics of an asymmetric potential barrier at the GaN/Mg boundary and of a p–i–n structure based on GaAs are studied. It is shown that, similarly to wide-gap semiconductors, the contribution of local thermal electromotive forces determines the features of the current–voltage characteristics and the frequency features of the current–power characteristics, in particular the Gaussian resonance. Proper account and use of local thermoelectric forces makes it possible to attain a drastic increase in the efficiency of thermoelectric conversion and an improvement in the operating parameters of microelectronic components.