Chin. Phys. Lett.  2021, Vol. 38 Issue (1): 016801    DOI: 10.1088/0256-307X/38/1/016801
 CONDENSED MATTER: STRUCTURE, MECHANICAL AND THERMAL PROPERTIES |
Photonic Thermal Rectification with Composite Metamaterials
Ogundare Rasheed Toyin1†, Wenxuan Ge1†, and Lei Gao1,2*
1College of Physical Science and Technology & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
2Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
 Abstract We demonstrate strong photonic thermal rectification effect between polar dielectrics plate and the composite metamaterials containing nonspherical polar dielectric nanoparticles with small volume fractions. Thermal rectification efficiency is found to be adjusted by the volume fractions and the nanoparticles' shape, and it can be as large as 80% when the polar dielectric nanoparticles are spherical in shape and are in the dilute limit with the volume fraction $f=0.01$. Physically, there exists strong electromagnetic coupling between the surface phonon polariton mode of polar dielectrics plate and the localized surface phonon polariton mode around polar dielectric nanoparticles. The results provide alternative new freedom for regulating energy flow and heat rectification efficiency in the near field, and may be helpful for design of multiparameter adjustable thermal diodes. Received: 26 September 2020      Published: 06 January 2021 Fund: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11774252 and 92050104), the Qing Lan Project, and the PAPD of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.