Alex Zettl, Arun Majumdar and colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have invented the first solid-state thermal rectifier.
The device consists of a boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) loaded at one end with high mass density materials, specifically, trimethyl cyclopentadienyl platinum (C9H16Pt). The researchers achieved thermal rectifications as high as 7 percent at room temperature. Mass-loaded carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were found to display thermal rectification of 2 percent.
The LBNL nanoscale solid-state device is to thermal systems what the diode is to electronics. Controlling the direction of heat flow could lead to radical improvements in thermal management across a range of products.
For example, the LBNL thermal diode might prevent overheating in microelectronic devices, currently a barrier to significant size reductions.
The new thermal diode could also result in computing systems that use photons instead of, or in addition to, electrons for manipulating and transporting information bits.
Applications include thermal management for microelectronic devices, solar cells and solar energy management systems, refrigerators, hybrid biological/inorganic systems, and nanoscale calorimeters.
More info: TTD@lbl.gov
