Transformation Optics for Heat Control – INPACT

New breakthroughs have merged in optics these last years around the concepts of invisibility/cloaking. These concepts have been promptly extended to other fields of physics such as microwaves, acoustics, fluid mechanics and elastodynamics. Applications may concern great societal stakes such as protection against earth-quakes or tsunami, but also address micro-protection challenges in mechanics and acoustics…

Until now these concepts issued from the techniques of space transformation have been restricted to waves, thanks to the similarity of equations (free-space and far field propagation). As a consequence, the case of thermodynamics was not considered, due the intrinsic difference between propagation (optics) and diffusion (heat).

This project is devoted to the extension of transformation optics to the field of thermodynamics, more exactly to the macroscopic phenomena of heat conduction. One general objective concerns the engineering of thermal materials for a better management of heat fluxes, which includes cloaking, concentration and rotation… Another complementary objective is to revisit a number of optical concepts for the field of thermodynamics, that are resolution, micro-cavity, enhancement, grating...

Our first results published in 2012 have proved the potentiality of the technique to control heat fluxes in the space-time regime. Since 2012, two teams (Harvard, Karlsrühe) have been involved in this field and have validated our predictions with experiment. Preliminary experiments were also attempted with Institut Fresnel (Marseille) and IEMN (Lille). Applications concern heat transfer, electrical engineering, microlectronics and defense…