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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Intrinsic nonreciprocity in electron-phonon-interaction-driven thermoelectric diodes

Hao-Kun Ke, Lie-Run Tian, and Jun-Feng Liu*

Pei-Hao Fu

Jun Wang†

Hu Xu‡

  • *Contact author: phjfliu@gzhu.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: jwang@seu.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: xuh@sustech.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L022058 – Published 25 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5gnb-p4m7

Abstract

We study an electron-phonon-interaction-driven thermoelectric diode. The nonreciprocity in this diode arises from the asymmetry between the probabilities of phonon emission and absorption in the electron-phonon interaction, as well as the structural reflection asymmetry. We reveal the intrinsic nature of this nonreciprocity, as the forward and backward electron transport remains asymmetric even when the applied temperature difference is not reversed. This intrinsic nonreciprocity gives rise to two novel transport phenomena. One is a novel thermoelectric effect that is driven by the temperature difference between the leads and the central device region, rather than the conventional temperature difference between the two leads. The second, and more significant, phenomenon is the suppression of electronic backscattering in the load resistor. This suppression decreases the resistance of the load resistor, which leads to the breakdown of Ohm’s addition law. Under suitable conditions, the presence of electron-phonon interaction can yield a larger thermoelectric current compared to the case without it. This intrinsic nonreciprocity opens up a pathway for low-power electronics besides topology and superconductivity, and for nonreciprocal thermoelectric devices.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L022058– Published 25 June, 2026
  • Received 15 November 2025
  • Accepted 9 June 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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