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Gate-Tunable Highly Efficient Spin and Valley Quantum Heat Engine in a Magnetic Tunnel Junction Based on Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides

Mohammad Alipourzadeh ^1,*, Sakineh Vosoughi-nia ^2,†, Yaser Hajati ^1,‡, and Imam Makhfudz ^3,§

¹Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz 6135743135, Islamic Republic of Iran
²Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan 8174673441, Islamic Republic of Iran
³IM2NP, UMR CNRS 7334, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille 13013, France

^*m.alipourzadeh@gmail.com
^†sakineh.vosooghi@gmail.com
^‡yaserhajati@gmail.com
^§imakhfudz@gmail.com

Phys. Rev. Applied 19, 024007 – Published 2 February, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.19.024007

Abstract

Recently, the nanoscale quantum heat engine (QHE) has become one of the most productive areas of research, due to its role as a conduit for excess heat. Regarding the low thermal conductance and suitable structural properties of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), here, we design a highly efficient spin and valley QHE in a normal-ferromagnetic-normal TMD-based tunnel junction. Spin splitting caused by the exchange field and the huge spin-orbit coupling (SOC) of TMDs leads to a remarkable spin-valley–dependent Seebeck coefficient with a sharp peak at $E \approx E_{F}$ . Application of the gate voltage changes the bands from conduction to valence; thus, a remarkable spin-valley–dependent Seebeck and conductance are observed, leading to a large gate- and exchange-field-tunable spin- and valley-dependent maximum power, which is greatly enhanced compared to other two-dimensional materials such as silicene- and graphene-based QHEs. Additionally, a enormous gate-controllable figure of merit and, consequently, a high efficiency at maximum power are achieved in this device, which confirms the advantage of using TMD-based junctions for highly efficient QHEs. These findings may open the door to the design of spin-valley caloritronics devices based on TMDs.

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Gate-Tunable Highly Efficient Spin and Valley Quantum Heat Engine in a Magnetic Tunnel Junction Based on Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides

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