Electronic Modulation of Near-Field Radiative Transfer in Graphene Field Effect Heterostructures

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Controllable heat flow manipulation is crucial for fundamental and practical applications.
• Existing thermal switching methods often require mechanical components or have limited operational temperature ranges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally demonstrate electronic modulation of radiative heat flow.
• To investigate the potential of graphene field-effect heterostructures for thermal switching without mechanical elements.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a graphene field-effect heterostructure to gate radiative heat flow.
• Fabricated devices with vacuum gap distances between 1 to 3 μm.
• Measured heat flux modulation using electronic gating.

Main Results:

• Achieved a maximum heat flux modulation of 4 ± 3%.
• Observed an absolute modulation depth of 24 ± 7 mW m^-2 V^-1.
• Demonstrated scalable active areas of approximately 1 cm².

Conclusions:

• Graphene field-effect heterostructures enable electronic control of near-field thermal radiation.
• This approach offers a promising, scalable alternative to mechanical thermal switching.
• Future work can lead to 100% switching ratios for advanced thermal management.