Dynamical response of a radiative thermal transistor based on suspended insulator-metal transition membranes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a radiative thermal transistor based on a phase-change membrane can dynamically modulate and amplify heat fluxes at the nanoscale, enabling advanced thermal control and information processing.

Contribution

It introduces a novel thermal transistor utilizing a phase-change membrane that exhibits multistability and dynamic control of heat flux in the near-field regime.

Findings

System exhibits multistability under thermal radiation interaction.

Can dynamically modulate super-Planckian heat fluxes.

Potential for nanoscale thermal management and information processing.

Abstract

We investigate the dynamical control of the heat flux exchanged in near-field regime between a membrane made with a phase-change material and a substrate when the temperature of the membrane is tuned around its critical value. We show that in interaction with an external source of thermal radiation, this system is multistable and behaves as a thermal transistor, being able to dynamically modulate and even amplify super-Planckian heat fluxes. This behavior could be used to dynamically control heat fluxes exchanged at the nanoscale in systems out of thermal equilibrium and to process thermal information employing suspended membranes.