2012 Volume 53 Issue 7 Pages 1226-1233
Seebeck effect, Peltier effect, Thomson effect, electronic thermal conductivity, Hall effect, and Nernst effect are described on the basis of electronic conduction theory, taking account of effective mass anisotropy, nonparabolicity in E–k relation, and temperature dependent band gap. It is shown that the temperature dependence of the band gap does not modify the basic equations for the Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity, and Nernst coefficient. In narrow gap semiconductors, existence of minority carriers significantly enhances the electronic thermal conductivity, owing to the multiple carrier transport known as bipolar diffusion. Calibration coefficient γ for the Hall effect (RH = - γ /en) is increased by nonparabolicity in the E–k relation. Nernst coefficient gives useful information on scattering properties of the materials.
