Enhanced thermopower under a time-dependent gate voltage

We derive formal expressions of time-dependent energy and heat currents through a nanoscopic device using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function technique. Numerical results are reported for a metal-dot-metal junction where the dot level energy is abruptly changed by a step-shaped voltage pulse. Analytical linear responses are obtained for the time-dependent thermoelectric coefficients. We show that in the transient regime the Seebeck coefficient can be enhanced by an amount (as much as 40%) controlled by both the dot energy and the height of the voltage step.