Thermopower and thermal conductance for a Kondo correlated quantum dot

We study the thermopower and thermal conductivity of a gate-defined quantum dot, with a very strong Coulomb repulsion inside the dot, employing the X-boson approach for the impurity Anderson model. Our results show a change in the sign of the thermopower as function of the energy level of the quantum dot (gate voltage), which is associated with an oscillatory behavior and a suppression of the thermopower magnitude at low temperatures. We identify two relevant energy scales: a low temperature scale dominated by the Kondo effect and a T similar to Delta temperature scale characterized by charge fluctuations. We also discuss the Wiedemann-Franz relation and the thermoelectric figure of merit. Our results are in qualitative agreement with recent experimental reports and other theoretical treatments. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.