Phonon-Polaritons enhance near field thermal transfer across the phase transition of VO2

International audienceWe show numerically that near field heat flux can be modulated by orders of magnitude upon switching from the metallic to the insulating phase of vanadium dioxide. Furthermore the resonant phonon polariton interaction for the insulating phase enhances near field thermal transfer by 3 orders of magnitude. The effect should therefore be measureable with existing experimental setups and could find broad applications for systems where thermal control at the nanoscale is required