Solid state thermal transistor ultra high speed precise control of heat

Science and Technology Daily News (Reporter Zhang Mengran) - Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have launched the first stable all solid-state thermal transistor, which uses an electric field to control the thermal motion of semiconductor devices. According to a study published on November 3rd in the journal Science, the transistor has the highest speed and performance to date, and through atomic level design and molecular engineering, it can open up new fields of thermal management in computer chips

Science and Technology Daily News (Reporter Zhang Mengran) - Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have launched the first stable all solid-state thermal transistor, which uses an electric field to control the thermal motion of semiconductor devices. According to a study published on November 3rd in the journal Science, the transistor has the highest speed and performance to date, and through atomic level design and molecular engineering, it can open up new fields of thermal management in computer chips. This progress also helps to understand how the human body regulates heat.

Co author and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Engineering, Hu Yongjie, stated that precise control of how heat flows through materials has long been a dream for physicists and engineers. This new design principle of managing thermal motion through electric field switches has taken a big step in this direction.

The new type of thermal transistor has the advantages of field effect (modulating the thermal conductivity of materials by applying an external electric field) and all solid-state (without moving components), demonstrating high performance and compatibility with semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing processes. The team's design combines the field effect of charge dynamics at the atomic interface, and the power required for continuous switching and amplification of heat flux is almost negligible.

The switch controlled thermal transistor demonstrated by the team achieved record breaking high performance, increasing the speed and scale of thermal switching effects by several orders of magnitude compared to before. The switching speed exceeded 1 megahertz, and it also had 1300% thermal conductivity adjustability and reliable performance of over 1 million switching cycles.

In the concept validation design, the team created a self-assembled molecular interface that serves as a conduit for thermal motion. By turning on and off the electric field, the thermal resistance at the atomic interface can be controlled, allowing heat to accurately pass through the material. The team has now verified the performance of transistors through spectral experiments and conducted first-principles theoretical calculations to explain the influence of fields on atomic and molecular properties.

Hu Yongjie stated that this concept also provides a new method for understanding human heat management, and at a very basic level, the platform can provide insights into the molecular level mechanisms of living cells.

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