Heat transistor: demonstration of gate-controlled electronic refrigeration

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Jul 13;99(2):027203. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.027203. Epub 2007 Jul 9.

Abstract

We present experiments on a superconductor-normal-metal electron refrigerator in a regime where single-electron charging effects are significant. The system functions as a heat transistor; i.e., the heat flux out from the normal-metal island can be controlled with a gate voltage. A theoretical model developed within the framework of single-electron tunneling provides a full quantitative agreement with the experiment. This work serves as the first experimental observation of Coulombic control of heat transfer and, in particular, of refrigeration in a mesoscopic system.