ALT EDITORS' SUGGESTION Asymmetric scattering drives large nonlinear Nernst and Seebeck effects 15 May, 2026 The authors show here that disorder can be a dominant source of nonlinear thermoelectricity. They develop a unified semiclassical theory of nonlinear Nernst and Seebeck effects that incorporates side-jump and skew-scattering processes, identifying six distinct second-order contributions with a clear band-geometric origin. For 𝐴𝐵𝐴-stacked trilayer graphene, the theory explains the large experimentally observed signals and provides symmetry-based diagnostics to distinguish intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms. Harsh Varshney and Amit Agarwal Phys. Rev. B 113, 195417 (2026)
![Fig. 1.
(a) In this work, we establish a HTP computational workflow for evaluating TE properties using DFT. The process begins by selecting semiconductors with full band gaps from the Materials Project database [29]. The structure of each material is first optimized via DFT. Dynamical stability is then assessed through DFPT to compute phonon spectra. For the dynamically stable compounds, key parameters, including third-order interatomic force constants (IFCs), electronic band structures, polar-phonon frequencies, dielectric tensors, and elastic constants, are calculated. These data serve as the foundation for the final computation of electronic and thermal transport coefficients, enabling the prediction of the TE figure of merit
z
T
. All data are incorporated into the open-source database [28]. (b) Schematic of phonon and electron transport mechanisms.](https://venexa.site/media/HJNN172XAAA7pBX.jpg)
ALT Fig. 1. (a) In this work, we establish a HTP computational workflow for evaluating TE properties using DFT. The process begins by selecting semiconductors with full band gaps from the Materials Project database [29]. The structure of each material is first optimized via DFT. Dynamical stability is then assessed through DFPT to compute phonon spectra. For the dynamically stable compounds, key parameters, including third-order interatomic force constants (IFCs), electronic band structures, polar-phonon frequencies, dielectric tensors, and elastic constants, are calculated. These data serve as the foundation for the final computation of electronic and thermal transport coefficients, enabling the prediction of the TE figure of merit z T . All data are incorporated into the open-source database [28]. (b) Schematic of phonon and electron transport mechanisms.
