Radiative thermal rectification using superconducting materials

Journal Article · Mon Mar 10 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4868251· OSTI ID:22257065

Nefzaoui, Elyes; Joulain, Karl; Drevillon, Jérémie; Ezzahri, Younès ^[1]

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1. Institut Pprime, Université de Poitiers-CNRS-ENSMA, 2, Rue Pierre Brousse, Bâtiment B25, TSA 41105, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9 (France)

Thermal rectification can be defined as an asymmetry in the heat flux when the temperature difference between two interacting thermal reservoirs is reversed. In this Letter, we present a far-field radiative thermal rectifier based on high-temperature superconducting materials with a rectification ratio up to 80%. This value is among the highest reported in literature. Two configurations are examined: a superconductor (Tl{sub 2}Ba{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8}) exchanging heat with (1) a black body and (2) another superconductor, YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} in this case. The first configuration shows a higher maximal rectification ratio. Besides, we show that the two-superconductor rectifier exhibits different rectification regimes depending on the choice of the reference temperature, i.e., the temperature of the thermostat. Presented results might be useful for energy conversion devices, efficient cryogenic radiative insulators engineering, and thermal logical circuits’ development.

• OSTI ID: 22257065
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 104; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ENERGY CONVERSION
HEAT TRANSFER
RECTIFIERS
SUPERCONDUCTORS
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS