Thermal rectification with interacting electronic channels: Exploiting degeneracy, quantum superpositions and interference

TL;DR

This paper investigates mechanisms for thermal rectification at the nanoscale using quantum dot configurations, highlighting the roles of degeneracy, superpositions, and interference to enhance diode performance.

Contribution

It introduces new quantum dot-based configurations and mechanisms, such as interference and asymmetries, to improve thermal rectification in nanoscale systems.

Findings

Quantum dot size and asymmetries enhance rectification.

Interference effects enable tunable thermal diodes.

Capacitive coupling creates efficient thermal switching.

Abstract

This work explores different mechanisms that induce thermal rectification in the nanoscale. The presence of interacting energy channels combined with simple asymmetries is sufficient for promoting the desired behavior. We use simple quantum dot configurations, identifying the basic properties that enhance rectification for each case: the size of a quantum dot state space (which suggests the use of scaled up systems with many interacting channels), tunneling asymmetries due to coherent tunneling in a double quantum dot, or quantum interference in a triangular triple quantum dot. An efficient and tunable thermal diode is proposed using a channel capacitively coupled to a mesoscopic switch.