Graded anharmonic crystals as genuine thermal diodes: Analytical description of rectification and negative differential thermal resistance

TL;DR

This paper develops an analytical approach to microscopic models of anharmonic graded mass crystals, demonstrating their potential as genuine thermal diodes by exhibiting rectification and negative differential thermal resistance.

Contribution

The authors introduce a formalism that explains how graded anharmonic crystals can function as thermal diodes, highlighting the role of material grading in thermal transport phenomena.

Findings

Thermal conductivity calculated for graded anharmonic crystals.

Demonstration of thermal rectification and negative differential thermal resistance.

Formalism clarifies the mechanism behind diode-like thermal behavior.

Abstract

We address the heat flow study starting from microscopic models of matter: we develop an approach and investigate some anharmonic graded mass crystals, with weak interparticle interactions. We calculate the thermal conductivity, and show the existence of rectification and negative differential thermal resistance. Our formalism allows us to understand the mechanism behind the phenomena, and shows that the properties of graded materials make them genuine thermal diodes.