| Description | Thermal Conduction and Radiation at Atomic and Nanometer Scales
Pramod Reddy Ph.D.
Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering University of Michigan
Edgar Meyhofer, Ph.D.
Professor Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
University of Michigan ABSTRACT: Thermal transport at nanometer and sub-nm length scales deviates profoundly from classic heat transfer predictions based on Fourier’s law of thermal conduction and the Stefan-Boltzmann law of radiative heat transfer. In this talk, we will raise key open questions regarding nanoscale heat transfer, describe a number of novel tools and techniques that we developed to address these questions, and present some of the insights from our studies that shed light on the unique physical mechanisms and new opportunities for engineering applications associated with thermal transport. Particularly, we will present crucial technical advances we made in our calorimetric tools to achieve picowatt-resolution heat transfer measurements. Then, we will describe how this progress enabled us to experimentally probe thermal conduction in single atom and single molecular junctions.
These measurements established the unique, quantized thermal transport characteristics that arise in atomic and molecular junctions. With regard to nano-scale radiative heat transfer, we will present our recent experimental work that leverages custom-built nano-positioning tools and calorimetric nano-devices, and report first measurements of near-field radiative heat transfer that established how heat transfer rates can exceed the Stefan-Boltzmann law by many orders of magnitude. Lastly, we will discuss possible applications of nanoscale thermal radiation for energy conversion and photonic cooling. To conclude, we will outline how these technical advances can be leveraged for future investigations of nanoscale heat transport and near-field thermophotovoltaic energy conversion. PRAMOD REDDY BIO: Prof. Pramod Reddy received a B. Tech and M. Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Bombay in 2002, and a Ph.D. in Applied Science and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007. He was a recipient of the NSF CAREER award in 2009, the DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2012 and the Young Alumnus Achiever Award from IIT Bombay in 2017. He is currently a Professor in the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. EDGAR MEYHOFER BIO: Prof. Edgar Meyhofer received a B.S. in Biology from the Universität Hannover in Germany, and a M. S. from Northeastern University in Boston. In 1991 he earned a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Washington, Seattle. Following postdoctoral training in Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington, he accepted a faculty member in the Department of Cellular and Molecular at the Medical School Hannover in Germany. In 2001 he joined the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he is currently a Professor in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. |
|---|