Triangular structures can enable thermal rectification

Researchers from Purdue university suggest a new way to control the flow of heat in electronic devices. The idea is to use triangular structures to control phonons (a quantum-mechanical phenomena that describe how vibrations travel through a material’s crystal structure). Small triangular graphene flakes is one possible such structure.

The researchers used simulations to show that those triangular (and also other T-shaped structures) are capable of “thermal rectification,” or permitting a greater flow of heat in one direction than in the opposite direction. Rectification has made possible transistors, diodes and memory circuits central to the semiconductor industry. The new devices are thermal rectifiers that might perform the same function, but with phonons instead of electrical current.