  We propose a junction of metal and rare-earth compound semiconductor as the
basis for a possible efficient low-temperature thermoelectric device. If an
overlayer of rare earth atoms differing from the bulk is placed at the
interface, very high values of the figure of merit ZT can be reached at low
temperature. This is due to sharp variation of the transmission coefficient of
carriers across the junction at a narrow energy range, which is intrinsically
linked to the localized character of the overlayer f-orbital.
