TY - JOUR

T1 - Thermopower in HgTe-based topological insulators and two-dimensional semimetals

AU - Gusev, Gennadii M.

AU - Kvon, Ze D.

AU - Levin, Aleksandr D.

AU - Olshanetsky, Evgeny B.

AU - Mikhailov, Nikolai N.

N1 - Financial support for this work from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Grant No. 2021/12470-8, and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) is acknowledged.

PY - 2026/1

Y1 - 2026/1

N2 - In recent years, there has been a significant effort to investigate the impact of nontrivial electronic topology on the thermoelectric properties of materials. Topological insulators (TIs) and two-dimensional semimetals, in particular, have emerged as an efficient class of thermoelectric materials. When the Fermi level lies within the insulating gap, thermoelectric transport in two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators is primarily determined by the one-dimensional helical states, while in three-dimensional TIs, the transport is driven by the 2D states that exist on the material's surfaces. Here, we review existing results on HgTe quantum wells, which are exemplary in combining the optimal features of topological insulators and the best-performing thermoelectric materials. In addition, we also cover thermoelectric phenomena in two-dimensional semimetals. These materials have overlapping electron and hole bands in the energy space, resulting in a strong mutual friction between them that affects thermoelectric transport and leads to temperature-depend„ent resistivity. Our review focuses on the thermopower phenomena observed in HgTe-based semimetals, taking into account diffusive and phonon drag effects. Furthermore, we also discuss Weyl two-dimensional semimetals with gapless cone spectra and their thermoelectric properties. We highlight the impact of the coexistence of Dirac and heavy holes in the valence band on the thermoelectric properties of the material and their potential for application in thermoelectric devices.

AB - In recent years, there has been a significant effort to investigate the impact of nontrivial electronic topology on the thermoelectric properties of materials. Topological insulators (TIs) and two-dimensional semimetals, in particular, have emerged as an efficient class of thermoelectric materials. When the Fermi level lies within the insulating gap, thermoelectric transport in two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators is primarily determined by the one-dimensional helical states, while in three-dimensional TIs, the transport is driven by the 2D states that exist on the material's surfaces. Here, we review existing results on HgTe quantum wells, which are exemplary in combining the optimal features of topological insulators and the best-performing thermoelectric materials. In addition, we also cover thermoelectric phenomena in two-dimensional semimetals. These materials have overlapping electron and hole bands in the energy space, resulting in a strong mutual friction between them that affects thermoelectric transport and leads to temperature-depend„ent resistivity. Our review focuses on the thermopower phenomena observed in HgTe-based semimetals, taking into account diffusive and phonon drag effects. Furthermore, we also discuss Weyl two-dimensional semimetals with gapless cone spectra and their thermoelectric properties. We highlight the impact of the coexistence of Dirac and heavy holes in the valence band on the thermoelectric properties of the material and their potential for application in thermoelectric devices.

KW - topological insulators

KW - thermopowe

KW - quantum transport

KW - HgTe quantum wells

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105031187993

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/77e3ff92-7adf-3032-a5eb-b938d3ef433b/

U2 - 10.3367/ufne.2025.04.039898

DO - 10.3367/ufne.2025.04.039898

M3 - Article

VL - 69

SP - 2

EP - 24

JO - Physics-Uspekhi

JF - Physics-Uspekhi

SN - 1063-7869

IS - 01

M1 - 1

ER -