(216b) Thermal Rectification and Thermal Logic Devices Based On Manipulation of Solid-Liquid Interfaces

Thermal rectification, the origin of which lies in modifying the thermal resistance in a nonlinear manner, could significantly improve the thermal management of a wide range of nano-devices (both electronic and thermoelectric), thereby improving their efficiencies.  Since rectification requires a material to be inhomogeneous, it has been typically associated with solids. However, the structure of solids is relatively difficult to manipulate, which makes the tuning of thermal rectification devices challenging. Since liquids are more amenable to tuning, this could open up new applications for thermal rectification. We use molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate thermal rectification using liquid water. This is accomplished by creating an inhomogeneous water phase, either by changing the morphology of the surface in contact with the liquid. We then propose a thermal logic device based on asymmetric solid-fluid resistances that couples two fluid reservoirs separated by solid-fluid interfaces. It is the thermal analog of a three terminal transistor, the hot reservoir being the emitter, the cold reservoir the output, and smaller input reservoirs as the base. Changing the input temperature alters the transport factor and the flux gain as does the base current in a transistor.