Photonic Thermal Rectification with Composite Metamaterials

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.