CAREER: Understanding the Size Effects on Spin-mediated Thermal Transport in Nanostructured Quantum Magnets

磁热传导是某些具有独特晶体结构的磁性材料中的一种高效热传导模式，在热管理、能量转换和新兴量子技术方面具有广阔的应用前景。然而，实验探测这些材料中的微观热传输过程一直具有挑战性。该项目的总体目标是发展对磁性材料中热传输机制的基本理解，并教育下一代量子科学科学家。使用先进的纳米材料合成和纳米级热表征的组合，该项目旨在揭示磁热传导的重要长度尺度。所获得的知识将有可能使磁性材料的开发成为微电子设备热管理的有效热传输通道，以及基于量子科学的设备的数据总线。综合教育计划将促进代表性不足的少数民族参与STEM学科，并激励学生-K-12到研究生水平-追求科学和工程事业。电子自旋结构的热激发），该项目有效地结合了磁性纳米结构的控制自下而上合成，先进的纳米级四探针热输运表征和理论分析。通过研究纳米结构量子磁体中的热输运性质，拟议的研究将验证自旋激发的预测弹道热输运，这可能导致热导率随系统长度的增加而发散。此外，横向尺寸限制对自旋介导的热输运的影响将建立实验。该项目将产生有关纳米级量子材料中能量传输的基础知识，并培训和激励下一代STEM劳动力。该项目的科学发现将影响需要自旋激发传输的各种应用，包括热管理，热能转换和量子信息处理。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响评审标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Magnetic heat conduction, a highly efficient mode of heat conduction in some magnetic materials with unique crystal structures, is promising for thermal management, energy conversion, and emerging quantum technologies. However, experimentally probing the microscopic heat transport processes in these materials has been challenging. The overarching goals of this project are to develop a fundamental understanding of the heat transport mechanisms in magnetic materials and to educate the next generation of scientists in quantum science. Using a combination of advanced nanomaterial synthesis and nanoscale thermal characterization, this project seeks to reveal important length scales of magnetic heat conduction. The knowledge gained will potentially enable the development of magnetic materials as effective heat transport channels for thermal management in microelectronic devices, as well as a data-bus for quantum science-based devices. The integrated education plan will promote the participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM disciplines and inspire students—K-12 to graduate level—to pursue careers in science and engineering.To shed light on the mechanisms that govern the thermal transport of spin excitations (i.e., thermal excitations of electrons’ spin structure), this project effectively combines controlled bottom-up synthesis of magnetic nanostructures, advanced nanoscale four-probe thermal transport characterization, and theoretical analysis. By investigating the thermal transport properties in nanostructured quantum magnets, the proposed research will verify the predicted ballistic thermal transport of spin excitations, which can lead to a divergently increasing thermal conductivity with the system’s length. Furthermore, the effect of lateral size confinement on spin-mediated thermal transport will be established experimentally. This project will generate fundamental knowledge about energy transport in quantum materials at the nanoscale, as well as train and inspire the next generation of STEM workforce. The scientific findings from this project will impact a wide variety of applications that require transport of spin excitations, including thermal management, thermal energy conversion, and quantum information processing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.