Phase-controllable thermal routing with Josephson circuits

Since the first studies of thermodynamics, heat transport has been a crucial element for understanding any thermal system. Quantum mechanics has introduced new appealing ingredients for the manipulation of heat currents, such as the long-range coherence of the superconducting condensate. The latter has been exploited by phase-coherent caloritronics, an emerging field of nanoscience, to realize Josephson heat interferometers controlling electronic thermal currents as a function of the external magnetic flux. So far, only one output temperature has been modulated, while multi-output devices are still missing. In this talk, I will report the experimental realization of a phase-tunable thermal router [1] able to control the heat transferred between two terminals residing at different temperatures. Thanks to Josephson effect, this structure allows to regulate the thermal gradient between the output electrodes until reaching its inversion. Together with interferometers, diodes and memories, the thermal router represents a fundamental step towards the realization of caloritronic logic components [2].
[1] Timossi, G., Fornieri, A., Paolucci, F., Puglia, C., & Giazotto, F., arXiv:1710.04606 (2017).
[2] Paolucci, F., Marchegiani, G., Strambini, E. & Giazotto, F., arXiv:1709.08609 (2017).