First "heat transistor" unveiled

Source: http://real.physicsweb.org/articles/news/11/7/14/1

13 July 2007

Physicists in Finland and Italy claim to have built the world’s first "heat transistor" in which the flow of heat between two electrodes is controlled by a voltage applied to a third lead. The flow can be increased, decreased or even switched off by changing the voltage -- in much the same way as electrical current is controlled in a conventional transistor. While the heat flux of the device is too small for most practical applications, the researchers believe that it could help physicists gain a better understanding of heat flow in very small systems such as conventional electronic refrigerators (Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 027203).
The transistor is based on a design for a single-electron refrigerator that was unveiled earlier this year by Jukka Pekola and colleagues at the Helsinki University of Technology and NEST in Pisa, Italy (see Refrigerator cools one electron at a time).
Heat is transported by electrons as they tunnel though junctions between a metal and a superconductor (see figure). Only one electron at a time can squeeze through a tiny junction because mutual repulsion between electrons prevents multiple tunnelling. This orderly process ensures that only the hottest electrons can leave the metal, thereby causing heat to flow from the metal to the superconductor.

The researchers found that the heat flux though the transistor was a function of the temperature of the metal electrode, leading them to suggest that the device could be used as an accurate thermometer for measuring temperatures in the range of hundreds of millikelvin. Because the device allows for the precise study of the heat transported by single electrons, it could also help physicists to design better conventional electronic refrigerators, which also use electrons to transfer heat.

Pekola told Physics Web that while the heat transistor could someday be used to control the temperature of electronic devices, its very small cooling power rules out most practical applications.

About the author
Hamish Johnston is editor of Physics Web

Fausto Intilla's web site: www.oloscience.com