Quasi-one-dimensional semiconductors are perspective materials for thermoelectric applications. Unfortunately it is difficult to produce sufficiently thin and long nanowires. Therefore thermoelectric properties of short carbon nanotubes and thick wires into the pores of an anodized alumina template are studied now.

We prepare nanowires using the natural mineral chrysotile asbestos. It consists of thin asbestos tubes. The internal diameter of the tubes depends on a mineral deposit and varies from 2 to 15 nm. The length can reach 1 cm. The pressure injection of melted InSb, Te or Bi into asbestos tubes leads to a formation of long quantum wire bundle.

We have measured the temperature dependences of thermopower, resistivity and voltage-current characteristics of 5-nm-size quantum wires and have shown that those differ considerably from corresponding dependences of the initial bulk semiconductors. The report includes the last results of these measurements. It is difficult to explain the thermoelectric properties of the studied nanowires by Fermi gas model but it is possible to do in the framework of many-electron Luttinger liquid model.