Charge and heat transport in soft nanosystems in the presence of time-dependent perturbations

On the Role of Local Many-Body Interactions on the Thermoelectric Properties of Fullerene Junctions

The role of local electron–vibration and electron–electron interactions on the thermoelectric properties of molecular junctions is theoretically analyzed focusing on devices based on fullerene molecules. A self-consistent adiabatic approach is used in order to obtain a non-perturbative treatment of the electron coupling to low frequency vibrational modes, such as those of the molecule center of mass between metallic leads. The approach also incorporates the effects of strong electron–electron interactions between molecular degrees of freedom within the Coulomb blockade regime. The analysis is based on a one-level model which takes into account the relevant transport level of fullerene and its alignment to the chemical potential of the leads. We demonstrate that only the combined effect of local electron–vibration and electron–electron interactions is able to predict the correct behavior of both the charge conductance and the Seebeck coefficient in very good agreement with available experimental data.

Thermoelectric efficiency of molecular junctions

Focus of the review is on experimental set-ups and theoretical proposals aimed to enhance thermoelectric performances of molecular junctions. In addition to charge conductance, the thermoelectric parameter commonly measured in these systems is the thermopower, which is typically rather low. We review recent experimental outcomes relative to several junction configurations used to optimize the thermopower. On the other hand, theoretical calculations provide estimations of all the thermoelectric parameters in the linear and non-linear regime, in particular of the thermoelectric figure of merit and efficiency, completing our knowledge of molecular thermoelectricity. For this reason, the review will mainly focus on theoretical studies analyzing the role of not only electronic, but also of the vibrational degrees of freedom. Theoretical results about thermoelectric phenomena in the coherent regime are reviewed focusing on interference effects which play a significant role in enhancing the figure of merit. Moreover, we review theoretical studies including the effects of molecular many-body interactions, such as electron-vibration couplings, which typically tend to reduce the efficiency. Since a fine tuning of many parameters and coupling strengths is required to optimize the thermoelectric conversion in molecular junctions, new theoretically proposed set-ups are discussed in the conclusions.