%0 Journal Article %J Nat. Commun. %D 2018 %T Thermal management and non-reciprocal control of phonon flow via optomechanics %A Alireza Seif %A Wade DeGottardi %A Keivan Esfarjani %A Mohammad Hafezi %X

Engineering phonon transport in physical systems is a subject of interest in the study of materials and plays a crucial role in controlling energy and heat transfer. Of particular interest are non-reciprocal phononic systems, which in direct analogy to electric diodes, provide a directional flow of energy. Here, we propose an engineered nanostructured material, in which tunable non-reciprocal phonon transport is achieved through optomechanical coupling. Our scheme relies on breaking time-reversal symmetry by a spatially varying laser drive, which manipulates low-energy acoustic phonons. Furthermore, we take advantage of recent developments in the manipulation of high-energy phonons through controlled scattering mechanisms, such as using alloys and introducing disorder. These combined approaches allow us to design an acoustic isolator and a thermal diode. Our proposed device will have potential impact in phonon-based information processing, and heat management in low temperatures. 

%B Nat. Commun. %V 9(1) %8 2018/3/23 %G eng %U https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.08967 %N 1207 %R https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03624-y