Nonlinear heat transport in superlattices with mobile defects

Abstract

We consider heat conduction in a superlattice with mobile defects, which reduce the thermal conductivity of the material. If the defects may be dragged by the heat flux, and if they are stopped at the interfaces of the superlattice, it is seen that the effective thermal resistance of the layers will depend on the heat flux. Thus, the concentration dependence of the transport coefficients plus the mobility of the defects lead to a strongly nonlinear behavior of heat transport, which may be used in some cases as a basis for thermal transistors.