Thermal conductance modulator based on folded graphene nanoribbons

Based on folded graphene nanoribbons, we report a thermal conductance modulator which performs analogous operations as the rheostat in electronic circuits. This fundamental device can controllably and reversibly modulate the thermal conductance by varying the geometric structures and its tuning range can be up to 40% of the conductance of unfolded nanoribbons (∼1 nm wide and 7–15 nm long). Under this modulation, the conductance shows a linearly dependence on the folded angle, while undergoes a transition with the variation of the inter-layer distance. This primary thermal device may have great potential applications for phononic circuits and nanoscale thermal management.