Optimizing thermal transport in the Falicov-Kimball model: The binary-alloy picture

We analyze the thermal transport properties of the Falicov-Kimball model concentrating on locating regions of parameter space where the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT is large. We focus on high temperature for power generation applications and low temperature for cooling applications. We constrain the static particles (ions) to have a fixed concentration, and vary the conduction electron concentration as in the binary-alloy picture of the Falicov-Kimball model. We find a large region of parameter space with ZT>1 at high temperature and we find a small region of parameter space with ZT>1 at low temperature for correlated systems, but we believe inclusion of the lattice thermal conductivity will greatly reduce the low-temperature figure of merit.