Multimode quantized thermal conductance tuned by external field in a quantum wire

In this work, we propose an approach to realize field-dependent multimode quantized thermal conductance by introducing both harmonic and anharmonic couplings to a quantum wire. It is demonstrated theoretically that by stretching (or compressing) the wire, phononic band structures are tuned and multiple phononic channels are opened one by one. In this way, multiple-step quantized thermal conductance is realized. The. research opens a way to manipulate heat transfer in mesoscopic phonon systems. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.