Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 76, Number 1, October 2006
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 49 - 55 | |
Section | Electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2006-10223-5 | |
Published online | 25 August 2006 |
The design of a thermal rectifier
Laboratoire de Physique, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon 46 allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France
Received:
28
July
2006
Accepted:
1
August
2006
The idea that one can build a solid-state device that lets heat flow more easily in one way than in the other, forming a heat valve, is counter-intuitive. However, the design of a thermal rectifier can be easily understood from the basic laws of heat conduction. Here we show how it can be done. This analysis exhibits several ideas that could in principle be implemented to design a thermal rectifier, by selecting materials with the proper properties. In order to show the feasibility of the concept, we complete this study by introducing a simple model system that meets the requirements of the design.
PACS: 44.10.+i – Heat conduction / 05.60.-k – Transport processes / 05.45.-a – Nonlinear dynamics and chaos
© EDP Sciences, 2006
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