Summary
For over half a century, the development of thermoelectric materials has based on the dimensionless figure of merit
, assuming that the efficiency is mainly determined by this single parameter. Here, we show that the thermoelectric conversion efficiency is determined by
three
independent parameters,
,
τ
, and
β
, which we call the three thermoelectric degrees of freedom (DoFs).
is the well-defined
mean
of the traditional
under nonzero temperature differences. The two additional parameters
τ
and
β
are gradients of material properties and crucial to evaluating the heat current altered by nonzero Thomson heat and asymmetric Joule heat escape. Each parameter is a figure of merit. Therefore, increasing one of the three DoFs leads to higher efficiency. Our finding explains why the single-parameter theory is inaccurate. Further, it suggests an alternative direction in material discovery and device design in thermoelectrics, such as high
τ
and
β
, beyond
.