  A new thermoelectric effect mechanism inspired by an autonomous Maxwell's
demon [P. Strasberg, G. Schaller, T. Brandes, and M. Esposito, Phys. Rev. Lett.
110, 040601 (2013)] is proposed. In contrast to the former work where a model
for microscopic systems is proposed, a specific model for the thermoelectric
effect in solid is formulated and its response to the electric field and
temperature gradient is calculated in the framework of stochastic
thermodynamics. The results show that relatively high $ZT$, which represents
efficiency of the thermoelectric material, can be achieved within a range of
realistic parameters.

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics;Materials Science