Manipulating thermal fields with inhomogeneous heat spreaders

Eleanor R. Russell, Raphaël C. Assier and William J. Parnell

Department of Mathematics, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

August 12, 2021

Abstract
arXiv:2108.04881v1 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci] 6 Aug 2021

We design a class of spatially inhomogeneous heat spreaders in the context of steady-state thermal conduction
leading to spatially uniform thermal fields across a large convective surface. Each spreader has a funnel-shaped
design, either in the form of a trapezoidal prism or truncated cone, and is forced by a thermal source at its base.
We employ transformation-based techniques, commonly used to study metamaterials, to determine the required
thermal conductivity for the spreaders. The obtained materials, although strongly anisotropic and inhomogeneous,
can be accurately approximated by assembling isotropic, homogeneous layers, rendering them realisable. An
alternative approach is then considered for the conical and trapezoidal spreaders by dividing them into two or
three isotropic, homogeneous components respectively. We refer to these simple configurations as neutral layers.
All designs are validated numerically. Such novel designs pave the way for future materials that can manipulate
and control the flow of heat, helping to solve traditional heat transfer problems such as controlling the temperature
of an object and energy harvesting.
Keywords: Transformation thermodynamics, metamaterials, layered materials, neutral layer

1 Introduction Here we demonstrate how to employ transformation-

Heat transfer studies primarily focus on temperature
control and heat flux management. Traditional applica-
tions include energy harvesting and heating or cooling
objects such as electronic devices. In particular, the life-
time and efficiency of electronic devices are affected by
the build-up of excess thermal energy – a problem that
has become increasingly important in recent years due
to the demand for smaller electronics.
Although transient effects play an important role in
thermal engineering problems, mixed boundary condi-
tions affecting heat loss from buildings [1] or influenc-
ing thermal convective processes [2] for example, in this
work we propose a class of funnel-shaped heat spreaders
in the context of steady-state thermal conduction. Each
spreader has the form of either a trapezoidal prism or
truncated cone with a large convective surface at the
top that is forced by a smaller thermal source at its
base. Assuming all other external surfaces are perfectly
insulated, our primary objective is to ensure that, in
a steady-state regime, thermal fields are spatially uni-
form across the larger convective surface, eliminating
any temperature variation.
In general, anisotropic and inhomogeneous proper-
ties are required to guide the flow of heat through un-
conventional geometries in a spatially uniform manner.
based techniques to determine the required anisotropic,
inhomogeneous conductivity for the funnel-shaped
spreaders. These methods, in principle, can be employed
to achieve any desired thermal fields through any geom-
etry.
The prospect of realising specific physical fields with
engineered materials, referred to as metamaterials, has
led to progressively more research into transformation-
based techniques over the past two decades. The first
metamaterials were designed in order to control and ma-
nipulate electromagnetic wave fields. The designs for
these metamaterials were based on transformation op-
tics - a theory centred around the form invariance of
Maxwell’s equations after a general spatial transforma-
tion [3]. Following this, and due to the form invariance
of various other governing equations, significant progress
was also made with regard to the manipulation of other
wave fields [4] as well as thermal fields with transforma-
tion thermodynamics [5].
To date, transformation thermodynamics has as-
sisted in tackling traditional heat transfer problems,
with concepts such as thermal concentrators [6–12],
lenses [12–14] and uniform heating devices [12, 15]. It
has also enabled the development of new and exciting
concepts such as thermal invisibility cloaks [6, 7, 9, 11,
16, 17], ground cloaks [18–20] and rotators [7, 9, 11, 21].

1
Figure 1: Illustration of the transformation process for (a)-(b) a trapezoidal heat spreader, (c)-(d) a conical heat spreader and (e)-(f) a two-
dimensional cross section of each spreader. For example, the cross section in (e)-(f) is extended in the y-direction and reflected in the yz-plane
to achieve the trapezoidal design, or rotated about the z-axis to achieve the conical design. Each domain has a convective surface across the
top that is forced by a thermal source at the base. All other surfaces are perfectly insulated. The virtual domains are transformed using one
of two mappings to form the physical, funnel-shaped heat spreaders. The thermal conductivity of each heat spreader depends on the applied
transformation and is determined using (2).

The most relevant of these concepts, in the context ible in this sense, the simple neutral layer designs can
of this article, are the heat plate designed by Liu et al. be seen as a more practical approach.
[15] and the ground cloaks designed by Yang et al. [18] We validate all our designs numerically and, al-
and Hu et al. [19]. In particular, we apply transforma- though still at the conceptual stage, such designs can
tions that are analogous to those used in these papers help to pave the way for future materials that can ma-
to determine the required anisotropic, inhomogeneous nipulate and control the flow of heat.
properties of the heat spreaders. Once these properties
have been obtained, we apply effective medium theory
to propose layered designs comprising isotropic, homo- 2 Transformation-based methods
geneous materials that can be realised to approximate
the required behaviour. This approach has been suc- 2.1 Transformation theory
cessfully applied, using both isotropic and anisotropic
materials, to manufacture thermal metamaterials and We focus on controlling steady-state thermal conduc-
validate their performance experimentally [9, 14–16, 18]. tion which, in the absence of thermal sources or sinks,
is governed by the steady-state heat diffusion equation
We then consider an alternative approach where the
spreader is divided into two or three isotropic, homoge- ∇0 · (k0 ∇0 T ) = 0, (1)
neous components. These simple configurations, which
we refer to as neutral layers, are inspired by neutral in- where ∇0 is the gradient, k0 is the thermal conductiv-
clusions in the context of thermal conductivity [22, 23] ity, which can be anisotropic and inhomogeneous, and
and elasticity [24, 25]. T (r 0 ) is the temperature field which is dependent on the
The main difference between the neutral layer de- position vector r 0 with coordinates (ξ10 , ξ20 , ξ30 ).
signs and the metamaterials obtained through trans- By following Banerjee’s approach for transformation-
formation thermodynamics is that the neutral layers based methods on electrical conductivity [4], it can be
are tailored for a specific set of boundary conditions, shown that the form of (1) is invariant after a general
whereas the metamaterials work for a range of bound- spatial transformation from a virtual space r 0 (ξi0 ) to a
ary conditions. Whilst the metamaterials are more flex- physical space r(ξi ) on the condition that the conduc-

2
tivity in the physical space, denoted by k, satisfies

Fk0 FT
k= , (2)
det(F)

where F = r ⊗ ∇0 is the deformation gradient of the

transformation r 0 → r.
The result in (2) enables us to solve the inverse prob-
lem where, for a given geometry and set of boundary
conditions, we can achieve specific thermal fields by en-
gineering the conductivity.
Here we focus on achieving spatially uniform thermal
fields across the convective surface of a trapezoidal or
conical heat spreader, illustrated by the top surfaces in
Fig. 1(b) and (d) respectively. This is achieved by start-
ing with the virtual domains illustrated in Fig. 1(a) and
(c), both with an isotropic conductivity denoted by a
constant scalar k 0 , and applying one of two transforma-
tions: a linear stretch affecting each point in the virtual
space, or a modified ground cloak transformation that Figure 2: Simulation comparing the cross section of a trapezoidal heat
only affects half of the virtual space. These transfor- spreader with (a) an isotropic conductivity k = 80W/(mK), (b) a con-
satisfying (4) when k0 = 80W/(mK), (c) three components:
mations have been chosen to preserve the form of the ductivity
an isotropic component on top with conductivity k = k0 = 80W/(mK),
virtual temperature field which is linear with respect to and two components beneath with conductivity satisfying (11). Re-
z. As a result, the thermal fields in the heat spread- ferring to Fig. 1(f), each spreader has geometry a = 5b = 2h = 10cm
and is subjected to the same boundary conditions: a constant tem-
ers only exhibit z-dependence. This leads to fields that perature across the base, given by T (z = 0) = 80◦ C, and a convective
are spatially uniform with respect to the other two co- boundary condition across the top surface where the surrounding air
has coefficient hc = 15W/(m2 K) and temperature T0 = 20◦ C. The
ordinates, eliminating temperature variation across the white lines here represent isotherms.
convective surface as desired.
We first consider a heat spreader in the form of a  2
β1 + β22

trapezoidal prism. The full transformation process for 0 β2
k 
this heat spreader is illustrated in Fig. 1(a)-(b) where k(x, z) = , (4)
β1
we assume that the boundary conditions across the base β 2 1
and convective surface are homogeneous and all side sur- where
faces are perfectly insulated. With this assumption, we ∂x (a − b)z + bh
can focus on the two-dimensional design achieved by re- β1 (z) = 0
= , (5)
∂x bh
flecting the transformation in Fig. 1(e)-(f) in the z-axis.
and

2.2 Trapezoidal design
Linear stretch. For the following linear stretch mapping
we set c = b in Fig. 1(e). In other words, the base of the
virtual and physical domain have the same length. We
then transform the virtual domain by performing a lin-
ear stretch in the x-coordinate. The relevant mapping
r 0 (x0 , z 0 ) → r(x, z) is given by
 
(a − b) 0
x= z + 1 x0 , z = z0,
bh
where a, b and h are shown in Fig. 1(f). Using (2), the
transformed conductivity of the heat spreader (see Sec-
tion A.1.1 in the Supplementary material) must satisfy
1 All finite element simulations are performed with COMSOL
∂x (a − b)x
β2 (x, z) = = , (6)
∂z 0 (a − b)z + bh
once written in terms of the physical coordinates.
In Fig. 2(a) we show a finite element simulation1
for the resulting thermal fields through an isotropic,
homogeneous heat spreader with conductivity k =
80W/(mK). Referring to Fig. 1(f), we set a = 5b =
2h = 10cm and impose a constant temperature across
the base, given by T (z = 0) = 80◦ C, and a convec-
tive boundary condition across the top surface where
the surrounding air has a heat transfer coefficient of
(3)
hc = 15W/(m2 K) and temperature T0 = 20◦ C. Un-
less otherwise stated, each simulation in this article is
subjected to these boundary conditions.
The white lines in Fig. 2 represent isotherms. We
see that the temperature is not uniform across the top

Multiphysics®Version 5.5.

3
surface for the isotropic case. In comparison, Fig. 2(b)
shows a simulation for a heat spreader with the same ge-
ometry and boundary conditions as Fig. 2(a) but with
an anisotropic, inhomogeneous conductivity that satis-
fies (4) when k 0 = 80W/(mK). The thermal fields are
uniform with respect to x for this transformed case, elim-
inating any temperature variation across the top surface,
as desired.
Modified ground cloak. For the following mapping we set
c = a in Fig. 1(e). In other words, the base of the vir-
tual domain and the top surface of the physical domain
have the same length. We then transform the virtual
domain with a mapping that is analogous to the ground
cloak mapping employed by Yang et al. [18] and Hu et al.
[19]. A thermal ground cloak is traditionally employed
to conceal any object that lies beneath it without prior
information about that object. This effect is achieved
with a transformation that compresses the virtual space
away from the z-axis, creating a protected region around
which the heat flux is guided.
We employ this transformation to compress the
virtual space towards the z-axis. The rele-
vant mapping r 0 (x0 , z 0 ) → r(x, z) is only ap-
plied to points of the virtual space that satisfy
z 0 < h|x0 |/a and is given by
b 0 a−b 0
x= x + sgn(x0 ) z, z = z0, (7)
a h
Next we consider a heat spreader in the form of a
truncated cone. In order to simplify the realisation pro-
cess for this design, we only consider the linear stretch
transformation. The full transformation process for this
heat spreader is illustrated in Fig. 1(c)-(d) where we as-
sume that the boundary conditions across the base and
convective surface are axisymmetric. With this assump-
tion, this process is equivalent to rotating the transfor-
mation in Fig. 1(e)-(f) about the z-axis.
2.3 Conical design
Linear stretch. As with the previous linear stretch map-
ping in Section 2.2, we set c = b in Fig. 1(e). Working
in cylindrical coordinates, we then transform the vir-
tual domain by performing a linear stretch in the r-
coordinate. This transformation is equivalent to the
linear stretch applied by Liu et al. to design a plate
heater in a transient regime [15]. The relevant mapping
r 0 (r0 , θ0 , z 0 ) → r(r, θ, z) is given by

(a − b) 0

r= z + 1 r0 , θ = θ0 , z = z0, (10)
bh
where a, b and h are shown in Fig. 1(e)-(f).
Using (2), the transformed conductivity (see Sec-
tion A.2.1 in the Supplementary material) must satisfy
 2
β1 + β52 0 β5


where a, b and h are shown in Fig. 1(f). Using (2), k0 

 

the conductivity in the transformed regions of the heat k(r, z) = 2  0 β12 0 
, (11)
β1 
spreader (see Section A.1.2 in the Supplementary mate-
 
rial) must satisfy β5 0 1

β32 + β42 sgn(x)β4
 in the basis {er , eθ , ez } where β1 (z) is given in (5) and
0
k 
k= , (8)
β3
sgn(x)β4 1

where
b a−b
β3 = and β4 = . (9)
a h
In contrast to (4), although the transformed conductiv-
ity in (8) is anisotropic, it is now homogeneous. Fur-
thermore, any points of the virtual space that satisfy
z 0 ≥ h|x0 |/a are unaffected by the transformation and
so the conductivity remains isotropic in this region with
conductivity k = k 0 .
For example, Fig. 2(c) shows a simulation for a heat
spreader with the same geometry and boundary condi-
tions as the isotropic spreader in Fig. 2(a), but this heat
spreader is composed of three components: an isotropic
component with conductivity k = k 0 = 80W/(mK) that
lies on top, and two metamaterial layers that lie be-
Figure 3: Simulation comparing the cross section of a conical heat
neath with conductivity satisfying (8). We see that the spreader with (a) an isotropic conductivity k = 80W/(mK) and (b)
thermal fields are spatially uniform with respect to x, a conductivity satisfying (11) when k0 = 80W/(mK). Referring to
Fig. 1(f), each spreader has geometry a = 5b = 2h = 10cm and is
eliminating temperature variation across the convective subjected to the same boundary conditions as in Fig. 2. The white
surface, as desired. lines here represent isotherms.

4
 3.1 Trapezoidal design
∂r (a − b)r
β5 (r, z) = 0 = , (12) Linear stretch. We approximate the anisotropic, in-
∂z (a − b)z + bh
homogeneous conductivity in (4) by dividing the heat
once written in terms of the physical coordinates. spreader into n sub-layers of equal height. We let ki
Fig. 3(a) shows a simulation for the cross section of denote the required anisotropic conductivity in layer i
an isotropic, homogeneous conical heat spreader with where i = 1, ..., n (i = 1 referring to the base layer). We
conductivity k = 80W/(mK). Referring to Fig. 1(f), we approximate ki by substituting
set a = 5b = 2h = 10cm and impose the same boundary h(2i − 1)
conditions as in Fig. 2. In comparison, Fig. 3(b) shows z= , (17)
2n
a simulation for a heat spreader with the same geom-
etry and boundary conditions as Fig. 3(a) but with an into (4). In other words, we set z to be the average
anisotropic, inhomogeneous conductivity that satisfies z-value in each layer.
(11) when k 0 = 80W/(mK). We see that the thermal This approximation is therefore piece-wise constant
fields are uniform with respect to r for the transformed in z in the sense that z-dependence is removed from each
case in Fig. 3(b), eliminating any temperature variation sub-layer without removing the z-dependence from the
across the top surface, as desired. heat spreader as a whole. To simplify further we remove
In what follows, we apply effective medium theory to x-dependence in each sub-layer by setting β2 = 0.
approximate the anisotropic behaviour in (4), (8) and Another way of thinking about this is to divide the
(11) with isotropic, homogeneous layers. virtual domain into n sub-layers and stretch each layer
individually where the stretch applied to layer i is ob-
tained by substituting (17) directly into the transfor-
3 Realisation with layered materials mation in (3). In other words, in layer i we apply the
transformation
Anisotropic behaviour can be approximated with layered  
structures where the thickness and material properties (a − b)(2i − 1) + 2nb
x= x0 , z = z0. (18)
of each layer are determined through effective medium 2nb
theory [14].
Approximating the required conductivity tensor in this
Here we design layered structures composed of two
way leads to
alternating materials with isotropic, homogeneous con- 
γi 0

0
ductivities denoted by the scalars kA and kB . By assum- ki = k , (19)
0 γi−1
ing continuity of flux and neglecting contact resistance
between interfaces, the effective conductivities parallel where
and perpendicular to the layers of the material, denoted (a − b)(2i − 1) + 2nb
γi = . (20)
kk and k⊥ respectively, are given by 2nb
The anisotropic behaviour in (19) is homogeneous
kk = φkA + (1 − φ)kB , (13) and can therefore be approximated with a bilayered ma-
terial using (13) and (14). This design is illustrated in
and Fig. 4(a) where the layers lie parallel to the x-axis. Each
1 φ 1−φ bilayer is composed of two isotropic, homogeneous lay-
= + , (14)
k⊥ kA kB ers: one with conductivity kA , which we fix throughout
the design, and the other with conductivity kB , which
where φ is the filling fraction of the material with con- we vary from layer to layer. In particular, k and φ are
B
ductivity kA . Assuming that φ is the same for (13) and calculated for each bilayer by substituting k , k = γ k 0
A k i
(14), we can solve these equations simultaneously to ob- and k = k 0 /γ into (15) and (16) respectively.
⊥ i
tain For a given configuration we then run simulations
k⊥ (kA − kk ) for a range of n bilayers and calculate the temperature
kB = . (15)
kA − k⊥ variation across the top surface each time with respect
to the L2-norm, which is defined as
Therefore, once we obtain the required effective con- q
ductivities from transformation thermodynamics, for a k T (x, h) − µ (T (x, h)) k2 = µ (T (x, h) − µ (T (x, h)))2


choice of kA > kk , we can determine the necessary value
for kB from (15). Then we rearrange (13) or (14) to find for the trapezoidal case where µ is the average opera-
φ, for example, tor. This process is shown in Fig. 5 (blue) where we set
kk − kB a = 5b = 2h = 10cm, k 0 = 80W/(mK), kA = 5k 0 and
φ= , (16) impose the same boundary conditions as in Fig. 2.
kA − kB
From Fig. 5 we can choose a suitable choice for n,
from (13). for example, a choice of n = 10 achieves a temperature

5
Figure 4: Illustration of the design for a trapezoidal heat spreader using (a) bilayers and (c) a laminated design rotated through some angle,
θ. Each design is reflected in the z-axis and simulated in (b) and (d) respectfully where each spreader has the same geometry and boundary
conditions as Fig. 2. To obtain the full trapezoidal configuration we extend each design in the y-direction. Table B.1 in the Supplementary
material lists the parameters used in each bilayer for the simulation in (b). Section B.2.2 in the Supplementary material provides the param-
eters used for the rotated laminate design in (d). In (e) we compare the temperature profile across the top surface in each simulation against
the isotropic and metamaterial simulations from Fig. 2.

variation of 0.0761◦ C. Fig. 4(b) shows a simulation for
the cross section of a trapezoidal heat spreader designed
using n = 10 bilayers. Table B.1 in the Supplementary
material lists the parameters used in each bilayer for the
simulation in Fig. 4(b).
Modified ground cloak. The conductivity in (8) is homo-
geneous. This somewhat simplifies the realisation pro-
cess in the sense that kA , kB and φ are fixed throughout
the transformed region. Furthermore, the anisotropy in
(8) can be achieved with a periodic, laminated design
that is rotated through some angle, θ. This design is il-
lustrated in Fig. 4(c) where the axes u and v are referred
to as the principal axes of the system. The process of
1.5
Bilayers
Rotated laminate
kT (x; h) ! 7(T (x; h))k2 =/ C
determining kA , kB , φ and θ for a given configuration
is described in Section B.2.1 of the Supplementary ma-
terial.
Once kA , kB , φ and θ are determined, we run simu-
lations for a range of n (where n now refers to how many
times the layers are repeated) and calculate the temper-
ature variation across the top surface each time with
respect to the L2-norm. This process is shown in Fig. 5
(orange) where we set a = 5b = 2h = 10cm, k = k 0 =
80W/(mK), kA = 25k 0 , kB = 0.016k 0 , φ = 0.7, θ = 35◦
and impose the same boundary conditions as in Fig. 2.
Section B.2.2 in the Supplementary material provides
the parameters used for these simulations.
From Fig. 5 we can choose a suitable choice for n,
for example, a choice of n = 5 achieves a temperature
variation of 0.0051◦ C. Fig. 4(d) shows a simulation for
the cross section of a trapezoidal heat spreader designed

using a rotated laminate design that is repeated n = 5

1 times.
Fig. 4(e) compares the temperature profile across
the top surface of each simulation in Fig. 4 against the
0.5
isotropic and metamaterial simulations from Fig. 2 and
Table 1 compares the variation of each temperature pro-
file in Fig. 4(e) with respect to the L2-norm.
0
0 5 10 15
n
Temperature Variation /◦ C
Figure 5: Simulations comparing the temperature variation across the Isotropic 0.4233
top surface of a trapezoidal heat spreader designed using the approxi-
mation in (19) with n bilayers (blue) or a rotated laminate with n re-
Metamaterial 0
peated layers (orange). For all simulations we set a = 5b = 2h = 10cm, Bilayers 0.0761
k0 = 80W/(mK) and impose the same boundary conditions as in
Fig. 2. For the bilayer simulations we set kA = 5k0 and calculate Rotated laminate 0.0051
kB and φ for each bilayer using (15) and (16) respectively. For the
rotated laminate simulations we rotate the design through an angle of Table 1: Variation of each temperature profile in Fig. 4(e) with respect
θ = 35◦ and set kA = 25k0 , kB = 0.016k0 and φ = 0.7. to the L2-norm.

6
Figure 6: (a) Simulations comparing the temperature variation across the top surface of a conical heat spreader designed using the approx-
imation in (22) with n bilayers. For each simulation we set a = 5b = 2h = 10cm, k0 = 80W/(mK) and kA = 1.05k0 and then calculate kB
and φ for each bilayer using (15) and (16) respectively. We impose the same boundary conditions as Fig. 3. (b) Illustration of the design for
a conical heat spreader using bilayers. To obtain the full conical configuration we rotate this design about the z-axis. (c) Simulation of the
cross section of a spreader designed using n = 20 bilayers. Table B.2 in the Supplementary material lists the parameters used in each bilayer
for the simulation in (c). In (d) we compare the temperature profile across the top surface of (c) against the isotropic and metamaterial cases
from Fig. 3.

We see that, when compared to the isotropic case,

the temperature variation across the top surface has de-
creased by approximately 82.1% with the bilayer design
and 98.8% with the rotated laminate. In fact, for a suf-
ficiently large number of layers, the rotated laminate de-
sign will eliminate temperature variation across the top
surface since, as we increase the number of layers, this
design better represents the required homogeneous con-
ductivity tensor, given by (8). On the other hand, the bi-
layer approximation is unable to eliminate temperature
variation completely, even if an infinite number of bilay-
ers are used. This is due to removing x-dependence in
order to approximate the required inhomogeneous con-
ductivity tensor, given by (4).
Finally, we recall that the designs implemented for
the simulations in Fig. 4(b) and (d) represent the cross
section of a heat spreader in the form of a trapezoidal
prism. Therefore, to obtain the full design, we simply
extend these configurations in the y-direction. Next we
follow analogous steps to design a conical heat spreader.
3.2 Conical design
Linear stretch. Here we apply the same approxima-
tion as for the linear stretch and the trapezoidal heat
spreader, that is, we divide the virtual domain into n
sub-layers of equal height and stretch each layer indi-
vidually where, in this case, the stretch applied to layer
i is obtained by substituting (17) directly into the trans-
formation in (10). In other words, in layer i we apply
the transformation
 
(a − b)(2i − 1) + 2nb
r= r0 , (21)
2nb
with θ = θ0 and z = z 0 . As a result, the required con-
ductivity in layer i is given by
 
1 0 0
ki = k 0  0 1 0 , (22)
0 0 γi−2
where γi is given by (20).
The anisotropic, homogeneous behaviour in (22) can
be approximated with a bilayered material using (13)
and (14) where kk = k 0 and k⊥ = k 0 /γi2 . This design
is illustrated in Fig. 6(b) where the layers lie parallel to
the r-axis. For this design we fix kA throughout and
calculate kB and φ in each bilayer using (15) and (16)
respectively.
For a given configuration we then run simulations for
a range of n bilayers and calculate the temperature vari-
ation across the top surface with respect to the L2-norm,
taking into account the axisymmetric geometry for this
case. This process is shown in Fig. 6(a) where we set
a = 5b = 2h = 10cm, k 0 = 80W/(mK), kA = 1.05k 0
and impose the same boundary conditions as Fig. 3.
From Fig. 6(a) we can choose a suitable choice for
n, for example, a choice of n = 20 achieves a tempera-
ture variation of 0.2776◦ C. Fig. 6(c) shows a simulation
for the cross section of a conical heat spreader designed
using n = 20 bilayers. Table B.2 in the Supplementary
material lists the parameters used in each bilayer for the
simulation in Fig. 6(c).
Fig. 6(d) compares the temperature profile across the
top surface of Fig. 6(c) against the isotropic and meta-
material simulations from Fig. 3 and Table 2 compares
the variation of each temperature profile in Fig. 6(d)
with respect to the L2-norm. We see that, when com-
pared to the isotropic case, the temperature variation
across the top surface has decreased by approximately
39.6% with the bilayer design.

7
 Temperature Variation /◦ C
Isotropic 0.4596
Metamaterial 0
Bilayers 0.2776
Table 2: Variation of each temperature profile in Fig. 6(d) with respect
to the L2-norm. Taking into account the axisymmetric geometry for
this case.

As with the trapezoidal bilayer design, as we remove

r-dependence to approximate the required conductivity Figure 7: Illustration of the two-dimensional cross section of a neu-
tensor, given by (11), we are unable to eliminate tem- tral layer design. The cross section is extended in the y-direction and
reflected the yz-plane to achieve the trapezoidal design (composed of
perature variation completely, even if an infinite number three components), or rotated about the z-axis to achieve the coni-
of layers are used. cal design (composed of two components). Each component has an
isotropic, homogeneous conductivity, denoted by the constant scalars
The designs in this section better represent each k1 or k2 .
metamaterial (or approximation of a metamaterial) as
we increase the number of layers, however, as we increase
the number of layers we also increase the number of in-
terfaces. As a result, effects such as contact resistance
may no longer be negligible. This motivates the next
investigation where we aim to achieve spatially uniform
thermal fields whilst minimising the number of inter-
faces. We do this by simply splitting the spreader into
two or three isotropic, homogeneous components and
Figure 8: Simulation of the cross section of a trapezoidal heat spreader
exploiting the solution to the diffusion equation in this designed using neutral layers. Here we set a = 5b = 2h = 10cm and
geometry. The results of which are tailored to a specific impose a constant heat flux across the base, given by ψ = 4, 000W/m2 ,
and a convective boundary condition across the top surface where the
set of boundary conditions. surrounding air has heat transfer coefficient 15W/(m2 K) and temper-
ature T0 = 20◦ C. Using (23) we set k1 = 20W/(mK) and k2 = 21k1 .
The white lines here represent isotherms.
4 Neutral layer method and validation
condition that
Here we propose a conical and trapezoidal heat spreader
a(h2 + a(a − b))
design composed of two or three components respec- k1 ,
k2 = (23)
tively. Furthermore, each component has an isotropic, bh2
homogeneous conductivity, denoted by the constant where a, b and h are shown in Fig. 7. Details of this re-
scalars k1 or k2 . The two-dimensional cross section of sult are provided in Section C of the Supplementary ma-
terial along with the resulting temperature fields T1 (z)
these designs is illustrated in Fig. 7 where we extend in
and T2 (x, z).
the y-direction and reflect in the yz-plane to achieve the
trapezoidal design, or rotate the cross section about the Fig. 8 shows a simulation for the cross section of
z-axis to achieve the conical design. a trapezoidal spreader with geometry a = 5b = 2h =
We assume that the temperature field in the upper 10cm. Using (23) we set k1 = 20W/(mK) and k2 =
(orange) domain, denoted by T1 , has the desired form, 21k1 . We impose a constant heat flux across the base,
however, we drop this assumption for the temperature given by ψ = 4, 000W/m2 , and a convective boundary
field in the lower (pink) domain, denoted by T2 . By al-condition across the top surface where the surrounding
lowing T2 to depend on x (or r) we are able to solve theair has heat transfer coefficient 15W/(m2 K) and tem-
inverse problem where we achieve the desired result in perature T0 = 20◦ C. We see that the thermal fields in
the upper component by engineering the ratio between the upper component are spatially uniform with respect
k1 and k2 . When k1 and k2 complement each other ap- to x, eliminating any temperature variation across the
top surface, as desired.
propriately, the lower layers neutralise any perturbations
caused by the funnel-shaped geometry, hence we refer to Further analytical solutions of the form T1 = Az + B
cannot be found for the trapezoidal or conical neutral
them as neutral layers. We first consider the trapezoidal
design. layer design when either a constant heat flux or con-
stant temperature is imposed across the base, however,
we are able to optimise a design for a given set of param-
4.1 Trapezoidal design
eters. For example, next we demonstrate how to opti-
The trapezoidal design is composed of three isotropic, mise the neutral layer design for a conical heat spreader
homogeneous components. For this case, when a con- when a constant temperature is imposed across the base.
stant heat flux is imposed across the base, an analytic We consider the optimal design to be the one that min-
solution can be found where T1 (z) = Az + B on the imises the temperature variation across the top surface

8
with respect to the L2-norm. The methods used here are top surface for this optimal case is 0.0241◦ C. Therefore,
also applicable to the trapezoidal design when a constant by incorporating a neutral layer with isotropic conduc-
temperature is forced across the base. tivity k2 = 27k1 , we have reduced the temperature vari-
ation by over 98% when compared to the isotropic case
4.2 Optimal conical design (k2 /k1 = 1 in Fig. 9(a)) where the temperature varia-
tion is approaching 1.5◦ C. This being said, we are yet to
We can approach the process for the conical design in completely eliminate the temperature variation across
one of two ways: choose the two materials and find the the top surface. In order to optimise further, next we
optimal geometry, or preset the geometry and find the demonstrate how to incorporate curvature into our de-
optimal ratio between k1 and k2 . Here we choose the sign.
latter and preset the geometry. Furthermore, we specify
our choice of k1 and the parameters for each boundary Incorporating curvature. We can add curvature to one
condition such that k2 is the only unknown parameter. interface at a time or both interfaces simultaneously.
To find the optimal ratio between the two conductivi- Here we incorporate curvature into both interfaces by
ties we run simulations for a range of k2 and calculate selecting N equally spaced points between 0 and h and
the temperature variation across the top surface each altering their position by a distance d in a direction per-
time with respect to the L2-norm, taking into account pendicular to the interface. This concept is illustrated
the axisymmetric geometry of the spreader. Once com- in Fig. 10 for when N = 2.
plete, we simply find the ratio that achieves the mini-
mum temperature variation and declare this to be the
optimal configuration.
This process is shown in Fig. 9(a) where we set
a = 5b = 2h = 10cm and k1 = 20W/(mK). For these
simulations we impose a constant temperature across
the base, given by T (z = 0) = 80◦ C, and the same con-
vective condition as in Fig. 8. We find that, for this
configuration, the optimal ratio between the conductiv-
ities occurs when k2 = 27k1 .
Fig. 9(b) shows a simulation of the resulting ther-
Figure 10: Illustration of how curvature is incorporated into the neu-
mal fields through the cross section of the heat spreader tral layer design. We select N equally spaced points between 0 and h
when k2 = 27k1 . The temperature variation across the and alter their position by a distance d in a direction perpendicular
to the interface.

Figure 9: (a) Simulations determining the optimal ratio between k1

and k2 for a conical neutral layer design with a constant temperature
source at the base, given by T (z = 0) = 80◦ C. For each simulation
in (a) we set a = 5b = 2h = 10cm, k1 = 20W/(mK) and impose
the same convective condition as in Fig. 8. For this configuration, the
minimum temperature variation of 0.0241◦ C occurs when k2 = 27k1 .
This optimal design is simulated in (b).
Figure 11: (a) Simulations to determine the optimal number of points,
N , to add curvature, d, to for the neutral layer design in Fig. 9(b). For
this configuration, the minimum temperature variation of 0.0161◦ C
occurs when N = 2 and d = −0.065cm. This optimal design is simu-
lated in (b).

9
 To find the optimal curvature for a given configu-
ration we fix all the parameters apart from N and d.
We then run simulations for different values of N and a
range of d, calculating the temperature variation across
the top surface each time in order to find the combina-
tion that achieves the minimal temperature variation.
This process is shown in Fig. 11(a) where we set the
same geometry and boundary conditions as in Fig. 9(b).
Here we set N = 0, 1, 2, 3 and then run simulations for
a range of d where −0.1cm ≤ d ≤ 0.1cm. We see that,
for this configuration, the minimum temperature varia-
tion of 0.0161◦ C occurs when N = 2 and d = −0.065cm.
Fig. 11(b) shows a simulation of the geometry and re-
sulting thermal fields for this optimal case. By adding
curvature in this way we have been able to reduce the
temperature variation by a further 33.2% when com-
pared to the simulation in Fig. 9(b) with no curvature.
5 Conclusion
We have described a class of potentially realisable heat
spreaders composed from isotropic, homogeneous mate-
rials. Each heat spreader has been designed to ensure
that thermal fields are uniform across a large convec-
tive surface in a steady-state regime when forced by a
smaller thermal source. Two categories of heat spread-
ers have been proposed: the first using the concept of
transformation thermodynamics, and the second using
the optimisation of a simple inverse problem, a config-
uration referred to as a neutral layer. All designs have
been validated numerically.
We have gained insight, particularly with the neutral
layer design, into the unique arrangement of natural ma-
terials that can be employed to guide the flow of heat
through a funnel-shaped design in a uniform manner.
These insights will hopefully help broaden research on
how to control the flow of heat and help pave the way
for future thermal management designs.
In future work we intend to refine the proposed de-
signs by incorporating time-dependence and interfacial
effects into our mathematical models.
6 Declaration of Competing Interests
The authors declare that they have no competing finan-
cial and personal relationships that could inappropri-
ately influence the work in this paper.
7 Author contributions
Eleanor R. Russell: Conceptualization, formal analy-
sis, data curation, visualization, writing - original draft,
writing - review & editing. Raphaël C. Assier: Con-
ceptualization, methodology, supervision, writing - re-
view & editing. William J. Parnell: Conceptualiza-
10
tion, methodology, supervision, writing - review & edit-
ing.
8 Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank The Department of
Mathematics at The University of Manchester for fund-
ing Russell’s PhD. Parnell is grateful to the Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK,
for funding his Fellowship extension EP/S019804/1.
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11
 Supplementary material

A Transformed conductivities leading to spatially uniform fields

A.1 Two-dimensional trapezoidal design
In two-dimensional Cartesian coordinates, the deformation gradient, F = r ⊗ ∇0 , of a mapping r 0 (x0 , z 0 ) → r(x, z)
is given by
 
∂x ∂x
0 ∂z 0 
 ∂x
  
∂ ∂
F = (xex + zez ) ⊗ ex0 0 + ez0 0 =  , (A.1)

∂x ∂z  ∂z ∂z 
∂x0 ∂z 0
where ⊗ is the tensor product.

A.1.1 Linear stretch

The linear stretch mapping in (3), r 0 (x0 , z 0 ) → r(x, z), is given by
 
(a − b) 0
x= z + 1 x 0 = β1 x 0 , z = z0, (A.2)
bh
where β1 (z 0 ) = (a − b)z 0 /bh + 1. From (A.1), the deformation gradient for this mapping is given by
 
β1 β 2
F= , (A.3)
0 1
where β2 (x0 ) = (a − b)x0 /bh. From (2), the transformed conductivity for this mapping is given by
 2
β1 + β22
   
β β2 β1 0 β2
Fk 0 FT k0  1 k 0
k= =  =  , (A.4)
det(F) β1 β1
0 1 β2 1 β2 1
where k 0 is the isotropic conductivity of the virtual domain.
To represent (A.4) in terms of the physical coordinates we substitute z 0 = z and x0 = xbh/((a − b)z + bh) into
β1 and β2 .

A.1.2 Modified ground cloak

The ground cloak mapping in (7), r 0 (x0 , z 0 ) → r(x, z), is only applied to points of the virtual space that satisfy
z 0 < h|x0 |/a and is given by
b a−b 0
x = x0 + sgn(x0 ) z, z = z0. (A.5)
a h
From (A.1), the deformation gradient for this mapping is given by
 
β3 sgn(x)β4
F= , (A.6)
0 1
where β3 = a/b and β3 = (a − b)/h. From (2), the transformed conductivity for this mapping is given by
 2
β3 + β42
   
0 β3 sgn(x)β4 β3 0 0 sgn(x)β4
k  = k 
k=  , (A.7)
β3 β3
0 1 sgn(x)β4 1 sgn(x)β4 1
where k 0 is the isotropic conductivity of the virtual domain.

12
A.2 Three-dimensional conical design
For cylindrical coordinates in three dimensions, the deformation gradient, F = r ⊗ ∇0 , of a mapping r 0 (r0 , θ0 , z 0 ) →
r(r, θ, z) is given by

 
∂ 1 ∂ ∂
F = (rer + zez ) ⊗ er0 0 + eθ0 0 0 + ez0 0
∂r r ∂θ ∂z

∂(rer ) 1 ∂(rer ) ∂(rer ) (A.8)

= 0
⊗ er 0 + 0 0
⊗ eθ0 + ⊗ ez0
∂r r ∂θ ∂z 0

∂(zez ) 1 ∂(zez ) ∂(zez )

+ ⊗ er0 + 0 ⊗ eθ0 + ⊗ ez0 .
∂r0 r ∂θ0 ∂z 0
Furthermore, for mappings where r = f (r0 , z 0 ), for some function f , and θ = θ0 and z = z 0 (A.8) reduces to
∂r ∂r
 
0
 ∂r0 0
∂r r ∂r
F = 0 er ⊗ er0 + 0 eθ ⊗ eθ0 + 0 er ⊗ ez0 + ez ⊗ ez0 =  r ∂z  , (A.9)
∂r r ∂z  0 0 
r0
0 0 1
in the basis {er , eθ , ez }.

A.2.1 Linear stretch

The linear stretch mapping in (10), r 0 (r0 , θ0 , z 0 ) → r(r, θ, z), is given by
 
(a − b) 0
r= z + 1 r0 = β1 (z 0 )r0 , θ = θ0 , z = z0, (A.10)
bh

where β1 (z 0 ) = (a − b)z 0 /bh + 1. From (A.9), the deformation gradient for this mapping is given by
 
β1 0 β5
F =  0 β1 0  , (A.11)
0 0 1
where β5 (r0 ) = (a − b)r0 /bh. From (2), the transformed conductivity for this mapping is given by
 2
β1 + β52

   0 β5
β1 0 β 5 β1 0 0
Fk 0 FT k0 k0 
 
2

k= = 2  0 β1 0   0 β1 0 = 2  0 β 1 0 , (A.12)
det(F) β1 β1 
 
0 0 1 β5 0 1 
β5 0 1
where k 0 is the isotropic conductivity of the virtual domain.
To represent (A.12) in terms of the physical coordinates we substitute z 0 = z and r0 = rbh/((a − b)z + bh) into
β1 and β5 .

B Parameters for numerical simulations in Section 3

B.1 Bilayers for trapezoidal design in Fig. 4(b)
The trapezoidal heat spreader in Fig. 4(b) has a geometry given by a = 5b = 2h = 10cm which is divided into 10
bilayers. For the i = 1, ..., 10 bilayers we set k 0 = 80W/(mK), kA = 5k 0 , kk = γi k 0 and k⊥ = k 0 /γi , where γi is
given in (20). We determine kB for each bilayer by substituting these parameters into (15). We then determine
the filling fraction of each bilayer, denoted by φ, by substituting kk , kA and kB into (16). This filling fraction
refers to the layer with conductivity kA . Table B.1 provides a full list of the parameters used in each bilayer for
the simulation in Fig. 4(b).

13
 Bilayer kk /(W/(mK)) k⊥ /(W/(mK)) kA /(W/(mK)) kB /(W/(mK)) φ
1 96 66.67 400 60.80 0.10
2 128 50.00 400 38.86 0.25
3 160 40.00 400 26.67 0.36
4 192 33.33 400 18.91 0.45
5 224 28.57 400 13.54 0.55
6 256 25.00 400 9.60 0.63
7 288 22.22 400 6.59 0.72
8 320 20.00 400 4.21 0.80
9 352 18.18 400 2.29 0.88
10 384 16.67 400 0.70 0.96
Table B.1: Parameters used in each bilayer for the simulation in Fig. 4(b). Bilayer 1 referring to the base layer. Parameters have been rounded
to two decimal places where necessary.

B.2 Principal conductivities and axes for the rotated laminate

B.2.1 Method
In two dimensions an anisotropic, homogeneous conductivity can be written in the form
 
k11 k12
k= , (B.1)
k12 k22

where k11 , k12 , k12 and k22 are constant scalars. The conductivity in (B.1) is equivalent to an anisotropic,
homogeneous conductivity of the form  
k 0
k= + , (B.2)
0 k−
that is aligned with a Cartesian coordinate system rotated through some angle, θ. We refer to the constant scalars
k+ and k− as the principal conductivities.
To find the principal conductivities we diagonalise (B.1) such that det (k − k± I) = 0. By doing this we obtain
p
2 )
k11 + k22 ± (k11 + k22 )2 − 4 (k11 k22 − k12
k± = . (B.3)
2
To find the corresponding rotation we must calculate the corresponding principal axes u = [u1 , u2 ]T and v =
[v1 , v2 ]T . These axes are illustrated in Fig. 4(c) of the article. Both u and v have unit length and satisfy
(k − k+ I) u = 0 and (k − k− I) v = 0 respectively. In particular, u is given by
"s s #T
k+ − k22 k+ − k11
u= , . (B.4)
2k+ − k22 − k11 2k+ − k22 − k11

Since the vector u has unit length, we can determine the corresponding rotation by calculating cos θ = u2 /1 = u2
such that s
k+ − k22
cos θ = . (B.5)
2k+ − k22 − k11

B.2.2 Rotated laminate for trapezoidal design in Fig. 4(d)

The trapezoidal heat spreader in Fig. 4(d) has a geometry given by a = 5b = 2h = 10cm. The required conductivity
in the transformed regions is given by (A.7). Therefore, by setting k 0 = 80W/(mK), from (B.3), the principal
conductivities are given by k+ = 1436W/(mK) and k− = 4.5W/(mK) and, from (B.5), the corresponding rotation
is approximately θ = 35◦ .
Finally, by substituting kk = k+ , k⊥ = k− and our choice of kA = 25k 0 into (15), we obtain kB = 0.016k 0 .
Then we determine the filling fraction, φ, by substituting kk , kA and kB into (16) such that φ = 0.7. These are
the parameters used for the rotated laminate design simulated in Fig. 4(d).

14
B.3 Bilayers for conical design in Fig. 6(c)
The conical heat spreader in Fig. 6(c) has a geometry given by a = 5b = 2h = 10cm which is divided into 20
bilayers. For the i = 1, ..., 20 bilayers we set k 0 = 80W/(mK), kA = 1.05k 0 , kk = k 0 and k⊥ = k 0 /γi2 , where γi is
given in (20). We determine kB for each bilayer by substituting these parameters into (15). We then determine
the filling fraction of each bilayer, denoted by φ, by substituting kk , kA and kB into (16). This filling fraction
refers to the layer with conductivity kA . Table B.2 provides a full list of the parameters used in each bilayer for
the simulation in Fig. 6(c).

Bilayer kk /(W/(mK)) k⊥ /(W/(mK)) kA /(W/(mK)) kB /(W/(mK)) φ

1 80 66.12 84 14.79 0.94
2 80 47.34 84 5.16 0.95
3 80 35.56 84 2.94 0.95
4 80 27.68 84 1.97 0.95
5 80 22.16 84 1.43 0.95
6 80 18.14 84 1.10 0.95
7 80 15.12 84 0.88 0.95
8 80 12.80 84 0.72 0.95
9 80 10.97 84 0.60 0.95
10 80 9.51 84 0.51 0.95
11 80 8.32 84 0.44 0.95
12 80 7.35 84 0.38 0.95
13 80 6.53 84 0.34 0.95
14 80 5.84 84 0.30 0.95
15 80 5.26 84 0.27 0.95
16 80 4.76 84 0.24 0.95
17 80 4.33 84 0.22 0.95
18 80 3.95 84 0.20 0.95
19 80 3.62 84 0.18 0.95
20 80 3.33 84 0.17 0.95
Table B.2: Parameters used in each bilayer for the simulation in Fig. 6(c). Bilayer 1 referring to the base layer. Parameters have been rounded
to two decimal places where necessary.

C Trapezoidal heat spreader with neutral layers and a constant heat flux source
The problem addressed here is obtained by reflecting the design in Fig. 7 in the z-axis, as illustrated in Fig. C.1
where we impose a constant heat flux, q0 W/m2 , across the base and a convective condition across the top surface
where the surrounding air has coefficient hc W/(m2 K) and temperature T0 = 20◦ C. Note that, since k1 and k2
are constant scalars, the appropriate heat diffusion equation in each domain is Laplace’s equation. We look for a
solution of the form T1 (z) = Az + B and T2 (x, z) = Cx + Dz + E, where A, B, C, D and E are constants, as these
are known solutions to Laplace’s equation. Therefore, we are left to satisfy each boundary condition, summarised
in (C.1).
 h
∇T2 · n1± = 0 on z = (±x − b),
a − b









 h
T1 = T2 on z = |x|,


a






B.C.s = h (C.1)
k1 ∇T1 · n2± = k2 ∇T2 · n2± on z = ± x,



 a




−k1 ∇T1 · ez = hc [T1 − T0 ] on z = h, ∀x,









q0 = −k2 ∇T2 · ez on z = 0, ∀x.

15
Figure C.1: Illustration of the two-dimensional cross section of a trapezoidal heat spreader designed using neutral layers. Each domain is
isotropic and homogeneous with a conductivity of either k1 or k2 .

Where !− 21 
 2 T
h h
n1± = +1 ± , −1 (C.2)
a−b a−b
and !− 21 
 2 T
h h
n2± = +1 ∓ , 1 (C.3)
a a
are the unit normals to each interface as shown in Fig. C.1.
The first condition in (C.1) is a consequence of the insulated external surfaces. When x > 0 we require

 2 !− 21  
h h
∇T2 · n1+ = +1 C −D =0 (C.4)
a−b a−b

(a − b)
=⇒ C= D. (C.5)
h
Whereas, when x < 0, we require
 2 !− 21  
h h
∇T2 · n1− = +1 − C −D =0 (C.6)
a−b a−b

(a − b)
=⇒ C=− D. (C.7)
h
We can combine (C.5) and (C.7) to obtain

(a − b)
C = sgn(x) D. (C.8)
h
As we neglect interfacial effects such as contact resistance we impose continuity of temperature and flux across
the interfaces where z = h|x|/a. These requirements are given in the second and third conditions in (C.1)
respectively. When x > 0 we require continuity of temperature on z = hx/a such that

Az + B = Cx + Dz + E

  (C.9)
(a − b) a
= + 1 Dz + E.
h h

Whereas, when x < 0, we require continuity of temperature on z = −hx/a such that

16
 Az + B = Cx + Dz + E

 
(a − b)  a 
= − − + 1 Dz + E
h h (C.10)

 
(a − b) a
= + 1 Dz + E.
h h

Therefore,
(a − b)a + h2
   
(a − b)a
A= + 1 D = D and B = E. (C.11)
h2 h2
satisfies both cases.
For continuity of flux we impose the third condition in (C.1). When x > 0 we require
   
h (a − b) b
k1 A = k2 − C + D = k2 − + 1 D = k2 D
a a a
(C.12)
2
 
(a − b)a + h b
=⇒ k1 = k2 ,
h2 a

after substitution of A from (C.11). We obtain the same result for k1 ∇T1 · n2− = k2 ∇T2 · n2− when x < 0.
Therefore, we have the condition:


a h2 + a(a − b)
k2 = k1 . (C.13)
bh2
Next we impose the constant heat flux across the base and convective condition across the top surface. These
conditions are given by the fourth and fifth conditions in (C.1) respectively. For the constant heat flux we require

q0 = −k2 D, ∀x
q0 (C.14)
=⇒ D = − .
k2
For the convective condition we require

− k1 A = hc [Ah + B − T0 ]

  (C.15)
k1
=⇒ −A + h + T0 = B.
hc

Therefore, provided the ratio between k1 and k2 satisfies (C.13), we can find a solution of the form T1 (z) =
Az + B and T2 (x, z) = C|x| + Dz + E where the constants A, B, C, D and E are given by
q0
D=− , (C.16)
k2
h2 + a(a − b)
 
b k2 b q0
A= D= D=− , (C.17)
h2 a k1 a k1
(a − b) (a − b) q0
C = sgn(x) D = sgn(−x) , (C.18)
h h k2
   
k1 b q 0 k1
B = E = −A + h + T0 = + h + T0 . (C.19)
hc a k1 hc

17