Reverse heat flow with Peltier-induced thermoinductive effect

Abstract

The concept of “thermal inductance” expands the options of thermal circuits design. However, the inductive component is the only missing components in thermal circuits unlike their electromagnetic counterparts. Herein, we report an electrically controllable reverse heat flow, in which heat flows from a low-temperature side to a high-temperature side locally and temporarily in a single material by imposing thermal inertia and ac current. This effect can be regarded as an equivalent of the “thermoinductive” effect induced by the Peltier effect. We derive the exact solution indicating that this reverse heat flow occurs universally in solid-state systems, and that it is considerably enhanced by thermoelectric properties. A local cooling of 25 mK is demonstrated in (Bi,Sb)2Te3, which is explained by our exact solution. This effect can be directly applicable to the potential fabrication of “thermoinductor” in thermal circuits.

Inverse current induced thermoelectric conversion in a parallel-coupled double quantum dot system

“…In recent work, a counterintuitive behavior called inverse current, i.e., one induced current (e.g., either particle or heat) against both applied forces, was found in classical one-dimensional interacting Hamiltonian systems when its equilibrium state is perturbed by coupled thermodynamic forces [71], and subsequently the phenomenon was also found in Coulomb coupled quantum dot systems coupled to two Fermi reservoirs [72]. The reverse heat flow is also found in a single quantum dot system coupled to two reservoirs with different statistical distribution functions [73] and in a single thermoelectric material induced by the Peltier effect [74]. Recently, the inverse current phenomenon has been exploited to design an autonomous engine [75] and a micro/nano cooler [73].…”