Cloaking of Thermoelectric Transport

TL;DR

This paper extends transformation optics to thermoelectric phenomena, demonstrating theoretically a cloak that can hide objects from coupled heat and electric flows, regardless of boundary conditions, advancing control of coupled transport phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical thermoelectric cloaking design using laminates, applying transformation optics to coupled heat and electric transport, a novel approach in the field.

Findings

The thermoelectric cloak operates independently of boundary conditions.

The cloak can function across different single domain regimes.

The design relies on laminates to achieve cloaking effects.

Abstract

The ability to control electromagnetic fields, heat currents, electric currents, and other physical phenomena by coordinate transformation methods has resulted in novel functionalities, such as cloaking, field rotations, and concentration effects. Transformation optics, as the underlying mathematical tool, has proven to be a versatile approach to achieve such unusual outcomes relying on materials with highly anisotropic and inhomogeneous properties. Most applications and designs thus far have been limited to functionalities within a single physical domain. Here we present transformation optics applied to thermoelectric phenomena, where thermal and electric flows are coupled via the Seebeck coefficient and Joule heating is taken into account. Using laminates, we describe a theoretical thermoelectric cloak capable of hiding objects from thermoelectric flow. Our calculations show that such a cloak does not depend on the particular boundary conditions and can also operate in different single domain regimes. These proof-of-principle results constitute a significant step forward towards finding unexplored ways to control and manipulate coupled transport.