Topological quantization of energy transport in micromechanical and nanomechanical lattices

Published

March 21, 2018

Author(s)

Chih-Chun Chien, Kirill Velizhanin, Yonatan Dubi, Robert Ilic, Michael P. Zwolak

Abstract

Topological effects are emerging as one of the central paradigms of physics, from condensed matter to cold atoms to quantum computation. These effects are typically discussed in the context of quantum physics. Here, we demonstrate the role of topology in determining the energy transport properties of dimerized micro- and nano-mechanical lattices in the classical regime, i.e., essentially "masses and springs," a hallmark example of Newtonian physics. We show that the thermal conductance factorizes into topological and non-topological components, with the former assuming three discrete values that reflect a length-independent reduction of the conductance due to the formation of edge modes. We relate these values to the "winding number" - a topological signature of the system's band structure - and show their robustness against disorder and nonlinearity. These results bridge two seemingly disconnected disciplines of physics, namely topology and thermal transport, and suggest ways to engineer thermal contacts and control heat flow, opening a novel direction to explore the ramifications of topological properties on nanoscale technology.

Citation

Physical Review B

Volume

97

Issue

12

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.97.125425

Local Download

Keywords

Topological materials, Nanomechanics, Thermal transport

Citation

Chien, C. , Velizhanin, K. , Dubi, Y. , Ilic, R. and Zwolak, M. (2018), Topological quantization of energy transport in micromechanical and nanomechanical lattices, Physical Review B, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.97.125425, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=921477 (Accessed April 3, 2025)