Picowatt-Resolution Calorimetry for Probing Near-Field Radiative Thermal Transport

CBET-1235691桑吉·雷迪（Sangi Reddy）21世纪世纪工程和科学各个领域面临的一个主要挑战是精确了解纳米级能量的传输和转换方式，最终目标是利用转换和传输机制开发各种新技术，包括可持续能源生产。虽然大距离分离的宏观物体之间的辐射热传输是很好的理解，辐射热传递在近场的制度，其中两个表面之间的间距小于峰值波长预测维恩？位移定律？是很难理解的。这种知识的缺乏主要是由于在近场辐射热传输的精确，定量测量的实验挑战。该提案旨在克服近场辐射热传输实验的关键障碍，并开发一种灵敏的，基于皮瓦分辨率量热法的实验平台，以提供具有纳米间隙的平行表面之间的近场辐射热传递的首次定量测量。此外，在这项工作中开发的实验方法将使利用近场效应探测直流热输出的微观系统前所未有的分辨率。作为这项工作的一部分，将开发的技术和工具将大大丰富微/纳米能量传输领域，其中缺乏探测近场辐射传输的实验工具是进展的主要障碍。此外，这项工作将使其他几个应用，如近场启用纳米图案，和新的计量测量。从长远来看，近场直流皮瓦分辨率量热法的拟议发展可以对复杂生物系统的研究产生变革性影响，特别是单个细胞，并为我们提供无法通过其他手段获得的丰富信息。除了解决上述技术问题外，该提案还纳入了广泛的外联活动，以吸引本科生和研究生以及代表性不足的少数群体参与研究。为了实现这一目标，PI将：1）每年招收三名本科生进行研究培训，2）开发近场热传输研究生课程，3）将研究成果和新的传热现象纳入PI教授的本科实验室课程，以及4）根据我们的研究创建教育视频，以便更广泛地传播。

CBET-1235691Sangi ReddyA major challenge for the 21th century, across diverse fields of engineering and science, is to precisely understand how energy is transported and converted at the nanoscale, with the ultimate goal of harnessing conversion and transport mechanisms for the development of a wide range of novel technologies, including sustainable energy generation. While radiative thermal transport between macroscopic objects separated by large distances is well understood, radiative heat transfer in the near-field the regime in which the spacing between two surfaces is smaller than the peak wavelength predicted by Wien?s displacement law?is poorly understood. This lack of knowledge is primarily due to experimental challenges in performing accurate, quantitative measurements of near-field radiative heat transport. This proposal seeks to overcome critical obstacles to near-field radiative heat transport experiments and develop a sensitive, picowatt-resolution calorimetry based, experimental platform to provide the first quantitative measurements of near field radiative heat transfer between parallel surfaces with nanoscale gaps. Further, the experimental approaches developed in this work will enable the utilization of near-field effects to probe DC heat output of microscopic systems with unprecedented resolution. The techniques and tools that will be developed as part of this work will significantly enrich the field of micro/nanoscale energy transport where the lack of experimental tools to probe near-field radiative transport is a major impediment to progress. Further, this work will enable several other applications such as near-field enabled nanopatterning, and novel metrology measurements. In the long term, the proposed development of near-field enabled DC picowatt resolution calorimetry can have a transformative effect on the study of complex biological systems, particularly individual cells, and give us a wealth of information that can not be obtained through other means. In addition to addressing the technical questions described above, the proposal also incorporates extensive outreach activities to engage undergraduate and graduate students as well as underrepresented minorities in research. Toward this goal the PIs will: 1) recruit three undergraduate students per year for research training, 2) develop a graduate class on near-field thermal transport, 3) incorporate research results and novel heat transfer phenomena into an undergraduate lab class taught by the PIs, and 4) create an educational video based on our research for broader dissemination.