Abstract
We propose a theoretical concept of a far-field radiative thermal rectification device that uses a phase change material to achieve a high degree of asymmetry in radiative heat transfer. The proposed device has a multilayer structure on one side and a blackbody on other side. The multilayer structure consists of transparent thin film of KBr sandwiched between a thin film of VO2 and a reflecting layer of gold. When VO2 is in its insulating phase, the structure is highly reflective due to the two transparent layers on highly reflective gold. When VO2 is in the metallic phase, Fabry-Perot type of resonance occurs and the tri-layer structure acts like a wide-angle antireflection coating achieved by destructive interference of partially reflected waves making it highly absorptive for majority of spectral range of thermal radiation. The proposed structure forms the active part of configuration that acts like a far-field radiative thermal diode. Thermal rectification greater than 11 is obtained for a temperature bias of 20 K, which is the highest rectification ever predicted for far-field radiative diode configurations.
Highlights
Thermal diode[1], thermal transistors[2], thermal memory element[3] and similar thermal analogues of electronic devices have been topic of theoretical as well as experimental works
Thermal diode is a rectification device wherein magnitude of heat flux strongly depends on the sign of applied temperature bias
There are numerous studies pertaining to near-field and far-field thermal radiation based rectification devices that exploit temperature dependent properties of a phase change materials such as vanadium dioxide (VO2) and La0.7Ca0.15Sr0.15MnO3 (LCSMO)[11, 18, 19]
Summary
We propose a theoretical concept of a far-field radiative thermal rectification device that uses a phase change material to achieve a high degree of asymmetry in radiative heat transfer. There are numerous studies pertaining to near-field and far-field thermal radiation based rectification devices that exploit temperature dependent properties of a phase change materials such as vanadium dioxide (VO2) and La0.7Ca0.15Sr0.15MnO3 (LCSMO)[11, 18, 19]. The active component should exhibit a transition from blackbody to reflective surface upon the reversal of a temperature bias which induces the phase change. This is exactly our design attempts to achieve. As we are concerned with heat flux values at 10 K above and below the critical temperature of VO2, hysteresis behavior is beyond the scope of this study
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
