Near-Field Thermal Radiation and Applications

Dec
6

Near-Field Thermal Radiation and Applications

Dr. Zhuomin Zhang, Georgia Institute of Technology

3:30 p.m., December 6, 2022   |   B001 Geddes Hall

Radiative heat exchange between closely spaced objects can be greatly augmented at nanoscale separation due to photon tunneling and enhanced density of states. Furthermore, the interaction of electromagnetic waves with micro/nanostructured materials can modify and control their far-field radiative properties. Micro/nanoscale thermal radiation deals with both near-field radiative heat transfer between closely spaced objects and interactions of electromagnetic waves with micro/nanostructured materials that could manipulate their far-field radiative properties.

Zhuomin Zhang
Zhuomin Zhang

Graphene and other van der Waals two-dimensional materials offer possibility of further enhancing near-field radiative heat transfer as well as tailoring far-field radiative properties. Nanoscale thermal radiation has promising applications in advanced energy harvesting, nanomanufacturing, thermal control and management, and high-resolution thermal mapping.

This presentation will give an overview of the past and present developments of near-field thermal radiation research and the related short-term and long-term application prospects.

Dr. Zhuomin Zhang is the J. Erskine Love, Jr. Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Science and Technology of China and Ph.D. degree from MIT.

He worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Florida before joining Georgia Tech. His research interests are in micro/nanoscale heat transfer especially nanoscale thermal radiation for energy harvesting. He has written a book on Nano/Microscale Heat Transfer (1st ed. 2007, 2nd ed. 2020).

Dr. Zhang has co-authored more than 200 journal papers and given over 400 invited and contributed presentations. He serves as an Editor-in-Chief of the Annual Review of Heat Transfer, an associate editor of the Journal of Thermophysics & Heat Transfer and the Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer. He was the Program Chair of the ASME 3rd Micro/Nanoscale Heat & Mass Transfer International Conference (Atlanta, March 2012), Chair of the 2nd International Workshop on Nano-Micro Thermal Radiation (Shanghai, June 2014), and General Chair of the ASME 5th Micro/Nanoscale Heat & Mass Transfer International Conference (Singapore, January 2016).

Dr. Zhang is a Fellow of ASME, AAAS, and APS. He was a recipient of the 1999 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) award, 2015 ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award, 2021 ASME Yeram S. Touloukian Award, and the 2021 AIAA Thermophysics Award.