Energy transport in harmonically driven segmented Frenkel-Kontorova lattices

TL;DR

This study investigates how energy transport in segmented Frenkel-Kontorova lattices is affected by external driving and structural modifications, revealing thermal resonance phenomena and potential for thermal device design.

Contribution

It introduces a molecular dynamics simulation approach to analyze energy transport in driven, dissimilar Frenkel-Kontorova lattices with time-modulated coupling.

Findings

Identification of a specific driving frequency for maximum heat flux (thermal resonance)

Structural modifications significantly influence phonon band interactions

Parameter tuning can direct heat flow to desired reservoirs

Abstract

In this work we study the energy transport in a one-dimensional system composed of two dissimilar Frenkel-Kontorova lattices connected by a time-modulated coupling and in contact with two heat reservoirs operating at different temperature by means of molecular dynamics simulations. There is a value of the driving frequency at which the heat flux takes its maximum value, a phenomenon termed as thermal resonance. Structural modifications in the lattice strongly alter the way in which the external driving interacts with the phonon bands. The overlap of the latter in the harmonic regime of the model determine the frequency range wherein resonance emerges. Parameter dependencies by which the incoming heat flux can be directed to either of the heat reservoirs are examined as well. Our results may be conductive to further developments in designing thermal devices.