Thermal rectification in nonlinear quantum circuits

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates heat flow asymmetry in nonlinear quantum circuits, proposing a superconducting circuit with controllable rectification effects and identifying regimes where rectification reverses sign.

Contribution

It introduces a feasible superconducting circuit design utilizing Josephson nonlinearity for controllable heat rectification in quantum systems.

Findings

Heat rectification effects are significant and controllable.

A superconducting circuit can achieve up to 10% rectification asymmetry.

Rectification sign can reverse depending on temperature regimes.

Abstract

We present a theoretical study of radiative heat transport in nonlinear solid-state quantum circuits. We give a detailed account of heat rectification effects, i.e. the asymmetry of heat current with respect to a reversal of the thermal gradient, in a system consisting of two reservoirs at finite temperatures coupled through a nonlinear resonator. We suggest an experimentally feasible superconducting circuit employing the Josephson nonlinearity to realize a controllable low temperature heat rectifier with a maximal asymmetry of the order of 10%. We also discover a parameter regime where the rectification changes sign as a function of temperature.