skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Dynamical heat transport amplification in a far-field thermal transistor of VO{sub 2} excited with a laser of modulated intensity

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4952604· OSTI ID:22596705
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Institut Pprime, CNRS, Université de Poitiers, ISAE-ENSMA, F-86962 Futuroscope Chasseneuil (France)

Far-field radiative heat transport in a thermal transistor made up of a vanadium dioxide base excited with a laser of modulated intensity is analytically studied and optimized. This is done by solving the equation of energy conservation for the steady-state and modulated components of the temperature and heat fluxes that the base exchanges with the collector and emitter. The thermal bistability of VO{sub 2} is used to find an explicit condition on the laser intensity required to maximize these heat fluxes to values higher than the incident flux. For a 1 μm-thick base heated with a modulation frequency of 0.5 Hz, it is shown that both the DC and AC components of the heat fluxes are about 4 times the laser intensity, while the AC temperature remains an order of magnitude smaller than the DC one at around 343 K. Higher AC heat fluxes are obtained for thinner bases and/or lower frequencies. Furthermore, we find that out of the bistability temperatures associated with the dielectric-to-metal and metal-to-dielectric transitions of VO{sub 2}, the amplification of the collector-to-base and base-to-emitter heat fluxes is still possible, but at modulation frequencies lower than 0.1 Hz.

OSTI ID:
22596705
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 20; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English