Performance Regulation of Near-Field Electroluminescent Cooling Device Based on 2-D Material

We establish a conceptual model of the graphene-assisted near-field electroluminescent refrigerator (GANER), which is composed of an emitter and a receiver. The two basic components are formed by a homojunction structure using III–V group semiconductors as materials. The cooling rate density (CRD) and coefficient of performance (COP) of the GANER are derived based on fluctuation electrodynamics and thermodynamics. The electrical–optical–thermal coupling properties and parametric optimum designs of the GANER and the near-field electroluminescent refrigerator (NER) are studied. The performances of the GANER and the NER are compared. By making tradeoff between the CRD and the COP, the selective criteria of several key parameters are provided. The effects of graphene’s chemical potential and finite-rate heat transfer between the refrigerator and the environment on the optimum performances of the GANER are discussed. It is found that for an arbitrary value of the chemical potential, the performance of the GANER is superior to that of the NER. The advantages of the GANER are more prominent for a large chemical potential. The results obtained here may provide some guidance for optimally designing solid-state refrigerators.