Thermopower and dynamical Coulomb blockade in nonclassical environments

摘要

Charge and heat transfer through a nanoscale conductor is not only determined by the transmission properties of the electrons, but can also be strongly impacted by coupling to other degrees of freedom in the environment of the conductor. Here, we analyze the influence of the electromagnetic environment on a simple, yet significant, thermoelectric property, the thermopower, in the simple transport scenario of single-charge transfer across a tunnel junction. Considering both thermal and out-of-equilibrium steady-state environments, we find that the thermopower can be strongly affected by the environmental state and can, in turn, act as a sensitive probe of environmental properties.