Highly efficient phase-tunable photonic thermal diode

We investigate the photon-mediated thermal transport between a superconducting electrode and a normal metal. When the quasiparticle contribution can be neglected, the photon-mediated channel becomes an efficient heat transport relaxation process for the superconductor at low temperatures, being larger than the intrinsic contribution due to the electron-phonon interaction. Furthermore, the superconductor-normal metal system acts as a nearly perfect thermal diode, with a rectification factor up to 10(8) for a realistic aluminum superconductor. The rectification factor can also be tuned in a phase-controlled fashion through a non-galvanic coupling, realized by changing the magnetic flux piercing a superconducting quantum interference device, which modifies the coupling impedance between the superconductor and the normal metal. The scheme can be exploited for passive cooling in superconducting quantum circuits by transferring heat toward normal metallic pads where it dissipates more efficiently or for more general thermal management purposes.

Automated summary

The study found that photon-mediated thermal transport between a superconducting electrode and a normal metal is an efficient relaxation process for heat transfer. The system acts as a thermal diode, with rectification factor that can be controlled by adjusting the impedance coupling between superconductor and normal metal through non-galvanic coupling.