Near-field radiative heat transfer in the presence of edge states

Gaomin Tang, Han Hoe Yap, Jie Ren, Jian-Sheng Wang

Published 2018-09-24Version 1

We find that localized electronic edge states can greatly change the properties of heat radiation in the near field. With near-field heat radiation between the surfaces harbouring edge states, not only is heat current extremely enhanced, its dependence on vacuum gap distance becomes non-monotonic as well. The underlying mechanisms are uncovered from the simple Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chains, and the realization is demonstrated using zigzag single-walled carbon nanotubes. An active radiative thermal switch can be realized by modulating heat current through tuning the presence or absence of edge states.