Cryogenic Thermoelectric Cooler and Generator based on Quantum Hall Effect

A quantum Hall system can be used for extremely efficient thermoelectric cooling and power generation. Such a quantum Hall system can be implemented as a two-dimensional (2D) material that is subject to a quantizing magnetic field and whose opposite ends are electrically and thermally coupled to a heat sink and heat source, respectively. The edges of the 2D material connecting those ends are coupled to respective ohmic contacts. The massive degeneracy and the metallicity of a partially-filled Landau level in the quantum Hall system enable thermoelectric energy conversion with unprecedented efficiency at low temperature. This efficiency occurs because the thermoelectric figure of merit is constant for a transverse thermoelectric device using the ν = 0 quantum Hall state of Dirac materials at charge neutrality. Under these conditions, electron-hole symmetry causes the electrical Hall effect to vanish and the thermoelectric Hall effect to peak.