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Register a new userThermally-Enhanced Frohlich Coupling in SnSe
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To gain insight into the peculiar temperature dependence of the thermoelectric material SnSe, we employ many-body perturbation theory and explore the influence of the electron-phonon interaction on its electronic and transport properties. We show that a lattice dynamics characterized by soft highly-polar phonons induces a large thermal enhancement of the Frohlich interaction. We account for these phenomena in ab-initio calculations of the photoemission spectrum and electrical conductivity at finite temperature, unraveling the mechanisms behind recent experimental data. Our results reveal a complex interplay between lattice thermal expansion and Frohlich coupling, providing a new rationale for the in-silico prediction of transport coefficients of high-performance thermoelectrics.
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