MAE 6560 Nanoscale Energy Transport and Conversion
Spring. 4 credits. Prerequisites: undergraduate heat transfer recommended (e.g., MAE 3240) or permission of instructor.
As electronic, optoelectronic, photonic, and fluidic devices shrink from the microscale down to the nanoscale, the mechanisms for transmitting heat, light, and energy become dramatically different. This course aims to provide a detailed look at thermal, electrical, and optical energy transport and conversion mechanisms at the nanoscale. Topics include a brief review of macroscopic heat transfer with emphasis on limits of macroscopic models, microscopic picture of energy carriers, material waves, energy quantization and energy states in solids, statistical thermodynamics and probability distribution functions as related to thermal energy storage, energy transport by waves and classical particle descriptions of transport processes and energy conversion and exchange processes between carriers.