Thermal transistor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10859329-B2
Application number	US-201816231991-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 25, 2018
Priority date	Dec 28, 2017
Publication date	Dec 8, 2020
Grant date	Dec 8, 2020

Abstract

A thermal transistor is provided. The thermal transistor includes a metallic thermal conductor, a non-metallic thermal conductor, and a thermal resistance adjusting unit. The metallic thermal conductor and the non-metallic thermal conductor are contact with each other to form a thermal interface. The thermal resistance adjusting unit is configured to generate an electric field at the thermal interface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A thermal transistor, comprising: a metallic thermal conductor, a non-metallic thermal conductor, and a thermal resistance adjusting unit;
the metallic thermal conductor and the non-metallic thermal conductor are in contact with each other to form a thermal interface; wherein a material of the non-metallic thermal conductor is carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon fibers, or a combination thereof; and
the thermal resistance adjusting unit is configured to generate an electric field at the thermal interface.

2. The thermal transistor of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the metallic thermal conductor ranges from 0.1 mm to 1 mm.

3. The thermal transistor of claim 1 , wherein a material of the metallic thermal conductor is selected from the group consisting of copper, aluminum, iron, gold, silver, and alloy thereof.

4. The thermal transistor of claim 1 , wherein the non-metallic thermal conductor is made of electrical conductive material.

5. The thermal transistor of claim 1 , wherein the non-metallic thermal conductor is a buckypaper with a density ranging from 1.2 g/cm3 to 1.3 g/cm3.

6. The thermal transistor of claim 1 , wherein the metallic thermal conductor and the non-metallic thermal conductor are disposed in a sealed space.

7. The thermal transistor of claim 1 , wherein the metallic thermal conductor and the non-metallic thermal conductor are disposed in a vacuum environment.

8. The thermal transistor of claim 1 , wherein the thermal resistance adjusting unit comprises: a first plate and a second plate parallel to and spaced apart from the first plate, both the first plate and the second plate are electrical conductive plate; and the metallic thermal conductor and the non-metallic thermal conductor are disposed between the first plate and the second plate.

9. The thermal transistor of claim 8 , wherein the thermal resistance adjusting unit further comprises: a voltage source electrically connected to each of the first plate and the second plate; the voltage source is configured to control electric potentials between the first plate and the second plate.

10. The thermal transistor of claim 8 , wherein the thermal resistance adjusting unit further comprises: an angle adjusting unit electrically connected to each of the first plate and the second plate; the angle adjusting unit is configured to control an angle between the thermal interface and the first plate.

11. The thermal transistor of claim 8 , wherein the thermal resistance adjusting unit further comprises a memory storing a mapping table of electric field-interfacial thermal resistance.

12. The thermal transistor of claim 1 , wherein the metallic thermal conductor comprises a first surface and a second surface; the non-metallic thermal conductor comprises a third surface and a fourth surface; the first surface and the third surface are in direct contact with each other to form the thermal interface.

13. The thermal transistor of claim 12 , wherein each of the second surface and the fourth surface is thermally connected to a heat source or a thermal device by a thermal connection.

Assignees

• Univ Tsinghua
• Hon Hai Prec Ind Co Ltd

Inventors

• Duan Zheng
• Liu Chang-Hong
• Fan Shou-Shan

Classifications

• H10W40/25

  characterised by their materials · CPC title

• H10W40/258

  Metallic materials (H10W40/254, H10W40/257, H10W40/255, H10W40/251, H10W40/253 take precedence) · CPC title

• F28F13/16 Primary

  by applying an electrostatic field to the body of the heat-exchange medium · CPC title

• F28F2255/06

  composite, e.g. polymers with fillers or fibres · CPC title

• F28F2255/20

  with nanostructures · CPC title