VO2-based radiative thermal transistor with a semi-transparent base

We study a radiative thermal transistor analogous to an electronic one made of a VO2 base placed between two silica semi-infinite plates playing the roles of the transistor collector and emitter. The fact that VO2 exhibits an insulator to metal transition is exploited to modulate and/or amplify heat fluxes between the emitter and the collector, by applying a thermal current on the VO2 base. We extend the work of precedent studies considering the case where the base can be semi-transparent so that heat can be exchanged directly between the collector and the emitter. Both near and far field cases are considered leading to 4 typical regimes resulting from the fact that the emitter-base and base-collector separation distances can be larger or smaller than the thermal wavelength for a VO2 layer opaque or semi-transparent. Thermal currents variations with the base temperatures are calculated and analyzed. It is found that the transistor can operate in an amplification mode as already stated in [1] or in a switching mode as seen in [2]. An optimum configuration for the base thickness and separation distance maximizing the thermal transistor modulation factor is found.