Managing Quantum Heat Transfer in a Nonequilibrium Qubit-Phonon Hybrid System with Coherent Phonon States

We investigate quantum heat transfer in a nonequilibrium qubit-phonon hybrid open system,dissipated by external bosonic thermal reservoirs.By applying coherent phonon states embedded in the dressed quantum master equation,we are capable of dealing with arbitrary qubit-phonon coupling strength.It is counterintuitively found that the effect of negative differential thermal conductance is absent at strong qubit-phonon hybridization,but becomes profound at weak qubit-phonon coupling regime.The underlying mechanism of decreasing heat flux by increasing the temperature bias relies on the unidirectional transitions from the up-spin displaced coherent phonon states to the down-spin counterparts,which seriously freezes the qubit and prevents the system from completing a thermodynamic cycle.Finally,the effects of perfect thermal rectification and giant heat amplification are unraveled,thanks to the effect of negative differential thermal conductance.These results of the nonequilibrium qubit-phonon open system would have potential implications in smart energy control and functional design of phononic hybrid quantum devices.

Impact of counter-rotating-wave term on quantum heat transfer and phonon statistics in nonequilibrium qubit–phonon hybrid system

Counter-rotating-wave terms(CRWTs)are traditionally viewed to be crucial in open small quantum systems with strong system–bath dissipation.Here by exemplifying in a nonequilibrium qubit–phonon hybrid model,we show that CRWTs can play the significant role in quantum heat transfer even with weak system–bath dissipation.By using extended coherent phonon states,we obtain the quantum master equation with heat exchange rates contributed by rotating-waveterms(RWTs)and CRWTs,respectively.We find that including only RWTs,the steady state heat current and current fluctuations will be significantly suppressed at large temperature bias,whereas they are strongly enhanced by considering CRWTs in addition.Furthermore,for the phonon statistics,the average phonon number and two-phonon correlation are nearly insensitive to strong qubit–phonon hybridization with only RWTs,whereas they will be dramatically cooled down via the cooperative transitions based on CRWTs in addition.Therefore,CRWTs in quantum heat transfer system should be treated carefully.

Erratum to“Designing thermal demultiplexer:Splitting phonons by negative mass and genetic algorithm optimization”

Equations(8)and(9)in the original paper[Chin.Phys.B 30036301(2021)]are corrected.

Designing thermal demultiplexer: Splitting phonons by negative mass and genetic algorithm optimization

We propose the concept of thermal demultiplexer, which can split the heat flux in different frequency ranges intodifferent directions. We demonstrate this device concept in a honeycomb lattice with dangling atoms. From the view ofeffective negative mass, we give a qualitative explanation of how the dangling atoms change the original transport property.We first design a two-mass configuration thermal demultiplexer, and find that the heat flux can flow into different ports incorresponding frequency ranges roughly. Then, to improve the performance, we choose the suitable masses of danglingatoms and optimize the four-mass configuration with genetic algorithm. Finally, we give out the optimal configuration witha remarkable effect. Our study finds a way to selectively split spectrum-resolved heat to different ports as phonon splitter,which would provide a new means to manipulate phonons and heat, and to guide the design of phononic thermal devices inthe future.