Photonic Negative Differential Thermal Conductance Enabled by NIS Junctions

Abstract: Owing to their sensitivity to temperature fluctuations, normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) junctions are leveraged in various thermal devices. This study illustrates that two NISIN reservoirs can achieve a measurable negative differential thermal conductance (NDTC). This phenomenon is enabled by photon-mediated heat exchange, which is profoundly affected by the temperature-dependent impedance matching between the reservoirs. Under appropriate configurations, the heat current is suppressed for increasingly large temperature gradients, leading to NDTC. We also propose experimental configurations where it is possible to discriminate this effect unambiguously. We employ superconducting aluminum in conjunction with either silver or epitaxial InAs to facilitate the experimental observation of NDTC at low temperatures over significant sub-Kelvin ranges. This advances the development of devices that exploit NDTC to enhance heat and temperature regulation in cryogenic environments, such as thermal switches, transistors, and amplifiers.