Scanning thermal microscopy: heat transfer in nanomaterials (Severine Gomes, Cethil Lyon)

Modern materials science and technology are increasingly devoted to the control of matter on the nanoscale. By nanostructuring materials their physical properties may be engineered to achieve optimal performance. Examples include energy nanomaterials used in renewable energy generation (thermoelectrics, photovoltaics), thermal barrier and thermal management. However, the technological need for full characterization of nanostructures is not paralleled with the availability of methods to characterize physical phenomena on small scales. The control of heat flow is especially central in nanodevices. The talk will focus on this issue for nanomaterials and nanostructures. If their reduced thermal conductance may be beneficial for certain devices such as thermoelectric energy converters, it can be limiting factor for increasing the density, performance, and reliability of many electronic nanodevices. To address this need we focus on developing measurement tools.....