Near-field radiative heat transfer between graphene-covered Weyl semimetals

TL;DR

This paper theoretically explores how graphene-covered Weyl semimetals can actively modulate near-field radiative heat transfer through surface plasmon polariton interactions, offering insights into controlling heat flux at the nanoscale.

Contribution

It introduces a novel theoretical framework for NFRHT in graphene-covered WSMs, highlighting mechanisms for heat flux modulation via SPP coupling and decoupling.

Findings

Heat flux can be enhanced or attenuated depending on graphene's chemical potential.

Surface plasmon polariton coupling controls the heat transfer modulation.

Photon tunneling probabilities are significantly affected by the heterostructure properties.

Abstract

Polariton manipulations introduce novel approaches to modulate the near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT). Our theoretical investigation in this study centers on NFRHT in graphene-covered Weyl semimetals (WSMs). Our findings indicate variable heat flux enhancement or attenuation, contingent on chemical potential of graphene. Enhancement or attenuation mechanisms stem from the coupling or decoupling of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in the graphene/WSM heterostructure. The graphene-covered WSM photon tunneling probabilities variation is demonstrated in detail. This research enhances our comprehension of SPPs within the graphene/WSM heterostructure and suggests methods for actively controlling NFRHT.