Thermal circuits

工业中使用的60%以上的能源以低品位废热（温度低于200摄氏度）的形式损失。因此，由于有限的能源资源和全球变暖问题，热流管理已成为一个非常重要的挑战。不幸的是，很少有热力学循环可以有效地利用这些低温流。在过去的几十年里，人们发现在热天体的表面存在着很强的能量密度。这种能量来自于热物体表面周围原子的热搅动所产生的倏逝电磁场的存在。如今，收集、储存、运输和转换这些能源是一个具有挑战性的问题。这些不同的步骤需要开发一种技术来操纵非辐射热光子。如果电子通过二极管、晶体管和其他基本的电子构建模块控制固体中的电子流，从而使我们当前的生活发生了一场革命，那么没有热电路的对应物能够操纵热体之间通过热光子交换的热流。我们建议构思和开发电子元件的热当量，这些元件在过去的一个世纪里彻底改变了电子传输。我的研究计划的长期目标是对已经在电流上得到证实的热量进行同样的控制——开关它，调节它，甚至放大它的能力。为了实现这一长期目标，这个五年项目的范围由两个研究课题组成：1)许多身体系统近场热交换的基础物理学；2)纳米级热光子管理的基本构建模块。

Over 60% of energy used in industry is lost as low grade waste heat (temperatures less than 200ºC). Thermal flow management has therefore become a very important challenge due to the limited energy resources and global warming issues. Unfortunately, few thermodynamic cycles can use these low temperature streams effectively. In the very last decades, it has been discovered that a strong density of energy exists at the surface of hot bodies. This energy results from the presence of evanescent electromagnetic field generated by the thermal agitation of atoms around the surface of hot bodies. Harvesting, storing, transporting and converting this energy is today a challenging problem. Those different steps require developing a technology to manipulate the non-radiative thermal photons. If electronic via the diode, the transistor and other basic electronic building blocks have enabled a revolution in our current lives by allowing the control of electronic flow in solids, no thermal counterpart of electric circuits is able to manipulate the heat flux exchanged throughout thermal photons between hot bodies. We propose to conceive and develop thermal equivalent of electronic components that have revolutionized electron transport the past century. The long-term objective of my research program is to exercise the same control over heat that has been already demonstrated over electric current–the ability to switch it on and off, to modulate it and even to amplify it. To achieve this long-term goal the scope of this five years project is composed of two research topics: 1) Fundamental physics of near-field heat exchanges in many body systems; 2) Basic building blocks to manage thermal photons at nanoscale. The methodology will consist in a combination of theoretical and experimental research to investigate and understand the basic physics, along with analytical and numerical modelling. In this perspective, micro-nanofabrication processes and prototypes will also be developed as well as a high resolution spatio-temporal thermal imaging setup. The primary impact of this program will be through the training of HQP in the multidisciplinary fields of nanoscale physics, material science, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. The main outcomes will be the deep understanding of nanoscale radiative heat-transfer and an established knowledge base for the design and fabrication of important building blocks for the next generation of thermal management circuits. The scientific and societal impact of this research is ranging from more efficient portable electronic (tablet, smart phone) to energy harvesting systems