Thermal management and non-reciprocal control of phonon flow via optomechanics

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 1207 - 8
• Main Authors: Seif, Alireza, DeGottardi, Wade, Esfarjani, Keivan, Hafezi, Mohammad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 23.03.2018; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/301/357; 639/766/1130/2800; Data processing; Diodes; Energy; Heat transfer; Humanities and Social Sciences; Information management; Information processing; Low temperature; multidisciplinary; Nanostructured materials; Opto-mechanics; Phonons; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Thermal management; Transport
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03624-y

Engineering phonon transport in physical systems is a subject of interest in the study of materials, and has a crucial role in controlling energy and heat transfer. Of particular interest are non-reciprocal phononic systems, which in direct analogy to electric diodes, provide a directional flow of energy. Here, we propose an engineered nanostructured material, in which tunable non-reciprocal phonon transport is achieved through optomechanical coupling. Our scheme relies on breaking time-reversal symmetry by a spatially varying laser drive, which manipulates low-energy acoustic phonons. Furthermore, we take advantage of developments in the manipulation of high-energy phonons through controlled scattering mechanisms, such as using alloys and introducing disorder. These combined approaches allow us to design an acoustic isolator and a thermal diode. Our proposed device will have potential impact in phonon-based information processing, and heat management in low temperatures. Phonon transport control is important for thermal and non-reciprocal devices. Here, Seif et al. combine heat transport in nanostructures and optomechanics into a platform for manipulating phonons with which they design an acoustic isolator and a thermal diode.