New approach using nanoparticle alloys allows heat to be
focused or reflected just like electromagnetic waves.
An MIT researcher has developed a technique that provides a
new way of manipulating heat, allowing it to be controlled much as light waves
can be manipulated by lenses and mirrors.
The approach relies on engineered materials consisting of
nanostructured semiconductor alloy crystals. Heat is a vibration of matter —
technically, a vibration of the atomic lattice of a material — just as sound
is. Such vibrations can also be thought of as a stream of phonons — a kind of
“virtual particle” that is analogous to the photons that carry light. The new
approach is similar to recently developed photonic crystals that can control
the passage of light, and phononic crystals that can do the same for sound.