Exceptions to Fourier’s law at the macroscale

Abstract

The usual basis to analyze heat transfer within materials is the equation formulated 200 years ago, Fourier’s law, which is identical mathematically to the mass diffusion equation, Fick’s law. Revisiting this assumption regarding heat transport within translucent materials, performing the experiments in vacuum to avoid air convection, we compare the model predictions to infrared-based measurements with nearly mK temperature resolution. After heat pulses, we find macroscale non-Gaussian tails in the surface temperature profile. At steady state, we find macroscale anomalous hot spots when the sample is topographically rough, and this is validated by using two additional independent methods to measure surface temperature. These discrepancies from Fourier’s law for translucent materials suggest that internal radiation whose mean-free-path is millimeters interacts with defects to produce small heat sources that by secondary emission afford an additional, non-local mode of heat transport. For these polymer and inorganic glass materials, this suggests unique strategies of heat management design.