Anisotropic Thermal Magnetoresistance for an Active Control of Radiative Heat Transfer

Abstract : We predict a huge anisotropic thermal magnetoresistance (ATMR) in the near-field radiative heat transfer between magneto-optical particles when the direction of an external magnetic field is changed with respect to the heat current direction. We illustrate this effect with the case of two InSb spherical particles where we find that the ATMR amplitude can reach values of up to 800% for a magnetic field of 5 T, which is many orders of magnitude larger than its spintronic analogue in electronic devices. This thermomagnetic effect could find broad applications in the fields of ultrafast thermal management as well as magnetic and thermal remote sensing.