Abstract
Anderson localization, arising from wave interference in disordered systems, profoundly hinders energy transport, yet its impact on radiative heat flux in many-body thermophotonic systems remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate a three-order-of-magnitude suppression of radiative heat transfer, resulting in ultralow radiative heat transfer, in a one-dimensional quasiperiodic chain of plasmonic nanoparticles. This suppression in radiative heat transfer is directly correlated with mode localization, as revealed by the mode decomposition of the transmission coefficient, which serves as evidence of Anderson localization. Furthermore, we elucidate the dependence of radiative thermal conductance reduction on interparticle spacing and material damping rates, uncovering the interplay between intrinsic Ohmic losses, mode localization, and long-range many-body interactions. Our findings advance the understanding of wave-mediated thermal transport in disordered photonic structures and suggest strategies for tailoring nanoscale heat management via engineered disorder.
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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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The codes that support the findings in this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (grant nos. RCYX20221008092848063, JCYJ20241202123733043, and JCYJ20241202123506009) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 12574256 and 12447144).
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Y.H. contributed to conceptualization, methodology, data analysis, visualization, writing, and manuscript revision. K.Y. and W.-H.X. contributed to the discussions of the results. X.C. led the project and contributed to project administration, supervision, writing review and editing, and funding acquisition. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
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Communications Physics thanks Ilkka Tittonen, Philippe Ben-Abdallah, and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.
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Hu, Y., Yan, K., Xiao, WH. et al. Ultralow radiative heat flux by Anderson localization in quasiperiodic plasmonic chains. Commun Phys (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-026-02506-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-026-02506-w
