Mesoscopic routers and single-pole double-throw switches for electronic heat

Abstract

The unavoidable dissipation of heat in electronic nanostructures is a crucial problem, specially when their operation requires low temperatures. It demands finding devices able to control and redirect the excess heat, ideally without perturbing the electrostatic environment. We propose three-terminal junctions working either as thermal routers or as thermal single-pole double-throw switches controlled by a single external knob. Two models are discussed based on resonant tunneling energy filters and different couplings to the heat source: (i) Phase-coherent contact via a scanning tip modulates the relative amount of the two output currents via position-dependent quantum interference; (ii) Coupling via a gate voltage tunable filter selectively switches one of the currents in the presence of dephasing. In the later case, we find that the heat flow using ideal filtering is bounded by fourth the open conductor current.