CONTROLLING HEAT CURRENT IN NON LINEAR CHAINS WITH TUNABLE COUPLINGS

BERAHA N; CARUSELA F; BARRETO R; SOBA A

cordoba

Congreso; Trefemac; 2012

TREFEMAC

We study the possibility of controlling energy transfer along a non linear chain consisting in two leads conected by a modulated coupling. The modulation is driven by an external agent that can emit or absorb energy. The extremes of each lead are coupled to thermal reservoirs with or without temperature gradient between them and with an ac-driving modulation of temperatures. The particles in each lead are coupled to their nearest neighbor and embedded on a substrate potential. The leads have different structures. Our results reveal asymmetric heat conduction. We analyze rectification effects and thermal conductivity as a function of the properties of the interfase between leads and direction of thermal gradients. We observe resonant effects in the thermal conduction as a function of the involved relevant modulating frequencies in the system. We find and characterize regimes where the system acts as an insulating device and as a heat pump. We propose an intuitive picture and the underlying mechanism for these situations.We perform computer simulations