Giant Specific Power Generation Capacity of Micro‐Thermoelectric Generators Enabled by High‐Entropy Cocktail Strategy
Specific power generation capacity Γ<sub>P</sub> is a critical performance metric for micro-thermoelectric generators (μ-TEGs), yet the best reported values are constrained to a few hundred µW cm<sup>-2</sup> K<sup>-2</sup>. Here, we report a giant Γ<sub>P</sub> of ∼5000 µW cm<sup>-2</sup> K<sup>-2</sup> in μ-TEGs based on the anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) in medium-entropy (FeCoNi)<sub>100-</sub> <sub>x</sub>Pt<sub>x</sub> films. Leveraging the high-entropy cocktail strategy, we have simultaneously achieved a large anomalous Nernst thermopower S<sub>xy</sub> (>1.4 µV K<sup>-1</sup>) and low resistivity ρ<sub>xx</sub> (<85 µΩ cm), and suppressed the classical and quantum size effects on both S<sub>xy</sub> and ρ<sub>xx</sub> at the optimal composition of x ≈ 50 and film thickness of a few nanometers, enabling the record-high Γ<sub>P</sub>. The underlying mechanism arises from cocktail-driven modulation of energy-band smearing, density of states, and Berry curvature at the Fermi surface, resulting in an ultrashort carrier mean-free-path of ∼3 nm, an ultrahigh carrier density of ∼10<sup>23</sup> cm<sup>-3</sup>, and a large anomalous Nernst conductivity above 1.7 A m<sup>-1</sup> K<sup>-1</sup>. This claim is further supported by first-principles calculations, which collectively highlight the experimental and theoretical potential of utilizing such materials for high-performance μ-TEG applications.
Authors
- Guannan Li
- Jia Zhang
- Jianting Dong
- Zhongchang Wang
- Yuming Lu
- Deshun Hong
- Shuang Liu
- Young Sun
- Xianlin Qu
- Zhenyang Liu
- Shipeng Zhou
Institutions
- Southwest University (CN)
- Chongqing University (CN)
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (CN)
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2026-01-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202520782
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00