The self‐compatibility effect in graded thermoelectric cooler elements

The compatibility approach enables the description of thermoelectric (TE) effects in terms of intensive state variables. Based on the new concept of a “Thomson cooler” (using the particular case of a u  =  s cooler as a demonstration) the authors present practically relevant results about fully self‐compatible cooler elements where the compatibility factor s is adjusted locally at any position along the element. By means of a comparison u  =  s cooler vs. conventional Peltier cooler with( B i 0 .5 S b 0.5 ) 2 T e 3material it is shown that there is a similar self‐compatibility effect for different Δ T . Therewith, the paper completes results published in Phys. Rev. B 86 , 045202 (2012).