Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer Modulation with an Ultrahigh Dynamic Range through Mode Mismatching

Ultrafast Thermal Switching Enabled by Transient Polaritons

Ultrafast thermal switches are pivotal for managing heat generated in advanced solid-state applications, including high-speed chiplets, thermo-optical modulators, and on-chip lasers. However, conventional phonon-based switches cannot meet the demand for picosecond-level response times, and existing near-field radiative thermal switches face challenges in efficiently modulating heat transfer across vacuum gaps. To overcome these limitations, we propose an ultrafast thermal switch design based on pump-driven transient polaritons in asymmetric terminals. Demonstrated with WSe2 and graphene, this approach achieves an impressive thermal switching ratio exceeding 10,000 with response times on the picosecond scale, outperforming current designs by at least 2 orders of magnitude. This exceptional performance is driven by dynamic polaritonic coupling between terminals, activated by ultrafast photoexcitation. Additionally, the WSe2 monolayer-based switch exhibits a laser cooling effect, enabled by enhanced carrier excitation efficiency and prolonged carrier lifetimes, introducing a disruptive mechanism for laser cooling. Our findings highlight the strong potential of photodriven transient polaritons in advancing ultrafast thermal switches and nanoscale cooling technologies.

Enhanced near-field radiative heat transfer between core-shell nanoparticles through surface modes hybridization

Core-shell nanoparticles (CSNPs) are widely used in energy harvesting, conversion, and thermal management due to the excellent physical properties of different components. Because of the synergistic interaction between the core and the shell, the thermal radiative properties are expected to be further enhanced. In this work, we achieve near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) enhancement between SiC@Drude CSNPs. Numerical results show that the total heat flux between NPs is 1.47 times and 9.98 times higher than homogeneous SiC and Drude NPs at the same radius when the core volume fraction is 0.76. Surface modes hybridization arising from the interfaces of the shell-core and shell-air contributes to the improved thermal radiation. The effect of shift frequency on the NFRHT between SiC@Drude CSNPs is studied, showing that the enhancement ratio of NFRHT between CSNPs can reach 4.34 at a shift frequency of 1 × 1014 rad/s, which is 38.34 times higher than the previous work. This study demonstrates that surface modes hybridization in CSNPs can significantly improve NFRHT and open a novel path for high-efficiency energy transport at the nanoscale.

Long Propagating Polaritonic Heat Transfer: Shaping Radiation to Conduction

Surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) originate from the coupling of mid-IR photons and optical phonons, generating evanescent waves along the polar dielectric surface. The emergence of SPhPs gives rise to a phase of quantum matter that facilitates long-range energy transfer (100s μm-scale). Albeit of the recent experimental progress to observe the enhanced thermal conductivity of polar dielectric nanostructures mediated by SPhPs, the potential mechanism to present the high thermal conductivity beyond the Landauer limit has not been addressed. Here, we revisit the comprehensive theoretical framework to unify the distinct pictures of two heat transfer mechanisms by conduction and radiation. We first designed our experimental platform to distinguish contributions of two distinct fundamental modes of SPhPs, resulting in far-field radiation and long propagating conduction, respectively, by tuning the configuration of a nanostructured heat channel integrated into the thermometer. We could effectively control the transmission of long-propagating SPhPs to influence the apparent thermal conductivity of the nanostructure. This study reveals the high thermal conductance of 1.63 nW/K by a fast SPhP mode comparable to that by classical phonons, with measurements showing apparent conductivity values of up to 2 W/m·K at 515 K. The origin of the enhanced thermal conductivity was exploited by observing the interference of dispersive evanescent waves by double heat channels. Furthermore, our experimental observations of length-dependent thermal conductance by SPhPs are in good agreement with the revisited Landauer formula to illustrate a polaritonic mode of heat conduction, considering the dispersive nature of radiation not limited to the physical boundaries of a solid object yet directionally guided along the surface.

Extreme Thermal Insulation and Tradeoff of Thermal Transport Mechanisms between Graphene and WS2 Monolayers

Controlling and understanding the heat flow at a nanometer scale are challenging, but important for fundamental science and applications. Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials provide perhaps the ultimate solution for meeting these challenges. While there have been reports of low thermal conductivities (several mW m-1 K-1) across the 2D heterostructures, phonon-dominant thermal transport remains strong due to the nearly-ideal contact between the layers. Here, this work experimentally explores the heat transport mechanisms by increasing the interlayer distance from perfect contact to a few nanometers and demonstrates that the phonon-dominated thermal conductivity across the WS2/graphene interface decreases further with the increasing interlayer distance until the air-dominated thermal conductivity increases again. This work finds that the resulting tradeoff of the two heat conduction mechanisms leads to the existence of a minimum thermal conductivity at 2.11 nm of 1.41 × 10-5 W m-1 K-1, which is two thousandths of the smallest value reported previously. This work provides an effective methodology for engineering thermal insulation structures and understanding heat transport at the ultimate small scales.

Corner- and edge-mode enhancement of near-field radiative heat transfer

It is well established that near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) can exceed Planck's blackbody limit1 by orders of magnitude owing to the tunnelling of evanescent electromagnetic frustrated and surface modes2-4, as has been demonstrated experimentally for NFRHT between two large parallel surfaces5-7 and between two subwavelength membranes8,9. However, although nanostructures can also sustain a much richer variety of localized electromagnetic modes at their corners and edges10,11, the contributions of such additional modes to further enhancing NFRHT remain unexplored. Here we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally a physical mechanism of NFRHT mediated by the corner and edge modes, and show that it can dominate the NFRHT in the 'dual nanoscale regime' in which both the thickness of the emitter and receiver, and their gap spacing, are much smaller than the thermal photon wavelengths. For two coplanar 20-nm-thick silicon carbide membranes separated by a 100-nm vacuum gap, the NFRHT coefficient at room temperature is both predicted and measured to be 830 W m-2 K-1, which is 5.5 times larger than that for two infinite silicon carbide surfaces separated by the same gap, and 1,400 times larger than the corresponding blackbody limit accounting for the geometric view factor between two coplanar membranes. This enhancement is dominated by the electromagnetic corner and edge modes, which account for 81% of the NFRHT between the silicon carbide membranes. These findings are important for future NFRHT applications in thermal management and energy conversion.

Ultra-broadband and wide-angle nonreciprocal thermal emitter based on Weyl semimetal metamaterials

Nonreciprocal thermal radiation can violate Kirchhoff's law and exhibit different emissivity at symmetric polar angles relative to the normal direction. Realizing a mid-infrared broadband nonreciprocal thermal emitter with a wide emission angle range is a fundamental yet challenging task, particularly without the need for an external magnetic field. Here, we propose a nonreciprocal thermal emitter operating in the mid-infrared that achieves a significantly nonreciprocal thermal radiation in a wavelength range from 12 μm to 20 μm, spanning a wide angular range from 16° to 88°. This is achieved by utilizing a multilayered Weyl semimetal (WSM)/dielectric structure, which takes the advantage of the strong nonreciprocity of WSMs with different Fermi levels and epsilon-near-zero-induced Brewster modes. The results provide a wider angular range in the broad mid-infrared band compared to previous attempts. The robustness of the nonreciprocal radiation is confirmed through wavelength-averaged emissivity across the azimuth angle φ range from 0° to 360°. Some possible materials and nanostructures as dielectric layers are discussed, showcasing the flexibility and reliability of the design. This work holds promising potential applications such as enhanced radiative cooling, thermal emitters for medical sensing and infrared heating, energy conversion, etc.

Observation of Near-Field Thermal Radiation between Coplanar Nanodevices with Subwavelength Dimensions

With the continuous advancement of nanotechnology, nanodevices have become crucial components in computing, sensing, and energy conversion applications. The structures of nanodevices typically possess subwavelength dimensions and separations, which pose significant challenges for understanding energy transport phenomena in nanodevices. Here, on the basis of a judiciously designed thermal photonic nanodevice, we report the first measurement of near-field energy transport between two coplanar subwavelength structures over temperature bias up to ∼190 K. Our experimental results demonstrate a 20-fold enhancement in energy transfer beyond blackbody radiation. In contrast with the well-established near-field interactions between two semi-infinite bodies, the subwavelength confinements in nanodevices lead to increased polariton scattering and reduction of supporting photonic modes and, therefore, a lower energy flow at a given separation. Our work unveils exciting opportunities for the rational design of nanodevices, particularly for coplanar near-field energy transport, with important implications for the development of efficient nanodevices for energy harvesting and thermal management.

Coupling polaritons in near-field radiative heat transfer between multilayer graphene/vacuum/α-MoO3/vacuum heterostructures

Both materials and structures can significantly affect radiative heat transfer, which is more pronounced in the near-field regime of two-dimensional and hyperbolic materials, and has promising prospects in thermophotovoltaics, radiative cooling, and nanoscale metrology. Hence, it is important to investigate the near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) in complicated heterostructures consisting of two-dimensional and hyperbolic materials. Recent studies have reported that adding vacuum layers to multilayer structures can effectively enhance the NFRHT. Take the case of multilayer graphene/α-MoO3 heterostructures: the effect of vacuum layers on these heterostructures has not been studied, and hence investigations on adding vacuum layers between graphene and α-MoO3 layers should be emphasized. In this work, we conduct an investigation of the NFRHT between multilayer graphene/vacuum/α-MoO3/vacuum heterostructures. Compared to unit graphene/α-MoO3 heterostructures without vacuum layers, it is found that NFRHT between the heterostructures with vacuum layers can be suppressed to 49.1% when the gap distance is 10 nm, and can be enhanced to 16.3% when the gap distance is 100 nm. These phenomena are thoroughly explained by the coupling of surface plasmon polaritons and hyperbolic phonon polaritons. Energy transmission coefficients and spectral heat flux are analysed during the calculations changing chemical potentials of graphene, thicknesses of vacuum layers, and α-MoO3 layers. This study is expected to provide guidance in implementing the thermal management of reasonable NFRHT devices based on graphene/α-MoO3 heterostructures.

Enhanced far-field coherent thermal emission using mid-infrared bilayer metasurfaces

A classical thermal source, such as an incandescent filament, radiates according to Planck's law. The feasibility of super-Planckian radiation has been investigated with sub-wavelength-sized sources in the last decade. In such sources, a crystal-dependent coupling of photons and optical phonons is possible at thermal energies corresponding to that at room temperature. This interaction can be used to tailor the far-field thermal emission in a coherent manner; however, understanding heat transfer during this process is still nascent. Here, we used a novel measurement platform to quantify thermal signals in a Ge2Sb2Te5/SiO2 nanoribbon structure. We were able to separate and quantify the radiated and conducted heat transfer mechanisms. The thermal emission from the Ge2Sb2Te5/SiO2 nanoribbons was enhanced by 3.5× compared to that of a bare SiO2 nanoribbon. Our model revealed that this enhancement was directly due to polaritonic heat transfer, which was possible due to the large and lossless dielectric permittivity of Ge2Sb2Te5 at mid-IR frequencies. This study directly probes the far-field emission with a thermal gradient stimulated by Joule heating in temperature ranges from 100 to 400 K, which bridges the gap between mid-IR optics and thermal engineering.

Dirac semimetal-assisted near-field radiative thermal rectifier and thermostat based on phase transition of vanadium dioxide

The near-field thermal radiation has broad application prospects in micro-nano-scale thermal management technology. In this paper, we report the Dirac semimetal-assisted (AlCuFe quasicrystal) near-field radiative thermal rectifier (DSTR) and thermostat (DST), respectively. The DSTR is made of a Dirac semimetal-covered vanadium dioxide (VO2) plate and silicon dioxide (SiO2) plate separated by a vacuum gap. The left and right sides of DST are consisted of the SiO2 covered with Dirac semimetal, and the intermediate plate is the VO2. The strong coupling of the surface electromagnetic modes between the Dirac semimetal, SiO2, and insulating VO2 leads to enhance near-field radiative transfer. In the DSTR, the net radiative heat flux of VO2 in the insulating state is much larger than that in metallic state. When the vacuum gap distance d=100 nm, Fermi level EF=0.20 eV, and film thickness t=12 nm, the global rectification factor of DSTR is 3.5, which is 50% higher than that of structure without Dirac semimetal. In the DST, the equilibrium temperature of the VO2 can be controlled accurately to achieve the switching between the metallic and insulating state of VO2. When the vacuum gap distance d=60 nm, intermediate plate thickness δ=30 nm, and film thickness t=2 nm, with the modulation of Fermi level between 0.05-0.15 eV, the equilibrium temperature of VO2 can be controlled between 325-371 K. In brief, when the crystalline state of VO2 changes between the insulating and metallic state with temperature, the active regulation of near-field thermal radiation can be realized in both two-body and three-body parallel plate structure. This work will pave a way to further improve performance of near-field radiative thermal management and modulation.

Polariton hybridization phenomena on near-field radiative heat transfer in periodic graphene/α-MoO3 cells

Coupling of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) supported by graphene and hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs) supported by hyperbolic materials (HMs) could effectively promote photon tunneling, and hence the radiative heat transfer. In this work, we investigate the polariton hybridization phenomena on near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) in multilayer heterostructures, which consist of periodic graphene/α-MoO3 cells. Numerical results show that increasing the graphene/α-MoO3 cells can effectively enhance the NFRHT when the vacuum gap is less than 50 nm, but suppresses the enhanced performance with larger gap distance. This depends on the coupling of SPPs and HPPs in the periodic structure, which is analyzed by the energy transmission coefficients distributed in the wavevector space. The influence of the thickness of the α-MoO3 film and the chemical potential of graphene on the NFRHT is investigated. The findings in this work may guide designing high-performance near-field energy transfer and conversion devices based on coupling polaritons.

Fano Resonance in Near-Field Thermal Radiation of Two-Dimensional Van der Waals Heterostructures

Two-dimensional (2D) materials and their vertically stacked heterostructures have attracted much attention due to their novel optical properties and strong light-matter interactions in the infrared. Here, we present a theoretical study of the near-field thermal radiation of 2D vdW heterostructures vertically stacked of graphene and monolayer polar material (2D hBN as an example). An asymmetric Fano line shape is observed in its near-field thermal radiation spectrum, which is attributed to the interference between the narrowband discrete state (the phonon polaritons in 2D hBN) and a broadband continuum state (the plasmons in graphene), as verified by the coupled oscillator model. In addition, we show that 2D van der Waals heterostructures can achieve nearly the same high radiative heat flux as graphene but with markedly different spectral distributions, especially at high chemical potentials. By tuning the chemical potential of graphene, we can actively control the radiative heat flux of 2D van der Waals heterostructures and manipulate the radiative spectrum, such as the transition from Fano resonance to electromagnetic-induced transparency (EIT). Our results reveal the rich physics and demonstrate the potential of 2D vdW heterostructures for applications in nanoscale thermal management and energy conversion.