A Monomaterial Nernst Thermopile with Hermaphroditic Legs

A large transverse thermoelectric response, known as the anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) has been recently observed in several topological magnets. Building a thermopile employing this effect has been the subject of several recent propositions. Here, a thermopile is designed and built with an array of tilted adjacent crystals of Mn3Sn. The design employs a single material and replaces pairs of P and N thermocouples of the traditional design with hermaphroditic legs. The design exploits the large lag angle between the applied field and the magnetization, which is attributed to the interruption of magnetic octupoles at the edge of the xy-plane. Eliminating extrinsic contact between the legs will boost the efficiency, simplify the process, and pave the way for a new generation of thermopiles.

Automated summary

A thermopile utilizing the anomalous Nernst effect has been designed and constructed, replacing traditional P and N thermocouples with hermaphroditic legs and utilizing tilted crystals to increase efficiency. The design takes advantage of the large lag angle between the applied field and magnetization, eliminating extrinsic contact between the legs to pave the way for a new generation of thermopiles.