| Abstract: | A method to control thermal energy transport uses mobile coherent
interfaces in nanoscale ferroelectric films to scatter phonons. The
thermal conductivity can be actively tuned, simply by applying an
electrical potential across the ferroelectric material and thereby
altering the density of these coherent boundaries to directly impact
thermal transport at room temperature and above. The invention eliminates
the necessity of using moving components or poor efficiency methods to
control heat transfer, enabling a means of thermal energy control at the
micro- and nano-scales. |