Thermoelectric energy harvesting with quantum dots

We review recent theoretical work on thermoelectric energy harvesting in multi-terminal quantum-dot setups. We first discuss several examples of nanoscale heat engines based on Coulomb-coupled conductors. In particular, we focus on quantum dots in the Coulomb-blockade regime, chaotic cavities and resonant tunneling through quantum dots and wells. We then turn toward quantum-dot heat engines that are driven by bosonic degrees of freedom such as phonons, magnons and microwave photons. These systems provide interesting connections to spin caloritronics and circuit quantum electrodynamics.We also acknowledge financial support from the European STREP project NANOPOWER, the Swiss NSF via the NCCR QSIT, the Spanish MICINN Juan de la Cierva program and MAT2011-24331, the COST Action MP1209 and the NSF grant DMR-0844899