Our work on extreme near-field heat transfer has been published in the physical review B. The paper title is “Extreme near-field heat transfer between gold surfaces” Abstract: Extreme near-field heat transfer between metallic surfaces is a subject of debate as the state-of-the-art theory and experiments are in disagreement on the energy carriers driving heat transport. […]
Our work on photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) has been published in the Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. The paper title is “Comprehensive energy balance analysis of photon-enhanced thermionic power generation considering concentrated solar absorption distribution” Abstract: The present article reports a comprehensive energy balance analysis of a photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) device when it […]
Our work on sub-micron gap thermionic devices has been published in the Physical Review Applied. The paper title is “Submicrometer-Gap Thermionic Power Generation Based on Comprehensive Modeling of Charge and Thermal Transport” Abstract: This paper presents the comprehensive performance analysis of thermionic power generation when the interelectrode vacuum gap shrinks to the submicron range. Although […]
A review paper on the experimental investigation of near-field thermal radiation has come out. The paper title is “EXPERIMENTAL EXPLORATION OF NEAR-FIELD RADIATIVE HEAT TRANSFER” Abstract: This paper presents an in-depth review of ongoing experimental research efforts to fundamentally understand the strong near-field enhancement of radiative heat transfer and make use of the underlying physics […]
Research Highlight: LIGO Scientific Collaboration On August 23rd, 2019, Professors Keunhan Park, Stephan LeBohec, Vikram Deshpande, and Yue Zhao obtained a formal membership into the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). The LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) is an international community of scientists focused on the direct detection of gravitational waves to study and explore the physics of gravity, […]
Taufiq has passed his Ph.D. qualification exams. To be officially considered as admitted to candidacy in the Ph.D. program, applicants must pass a qualifying exam. The qualification exams are the first of three major steps in the Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. program at the University of Utah. Students select two subject areas which support their Ph.D. research. The topics […]
Amun passed his doctoral dissertation defense titled: “Thermal Transport across Nanoscale Vacuum Gaps and the Transition to Phonon Heat Conduction” The investigation of thermal transport across extremely small vacuum gap distances is of both practical and fundamental significance. Previous theoretical studies have predicted that in the near-field, or when the emitter-receiver separation is less than […]
Amun is going to Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM as a postdoctoral researcher after his graduation. Congratulations, Amun!
Devon has started his career at Advanced Cooling Technologies as a researcher. Big congratulations, Devon!
Mohammad starts his academic career in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln as an assistant professor from this fall. Big congratulations, Mohammad!
Mohammad passed his doctoral dissertation defense entitled “Experimental Investigation of nanoscale Radiative Transfer for Energy Applications.”
Our first work in scattering type visible near-field scanning optical microscope has been published in Applied Optics. Abstract: Due to its superb imaging spatial resolution and spectroscopic viability, scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) has proven to be widely applicable for nanoscale surface imaging and characterization. However, limited works have investigated the sensitivity of […]
Devon passed his doctoral dissertation defense titled: “Fundamental Studies of Engineered Electron Interactions in Micro/Nanoscale Optical and Thermionic Devices” Photon interactions with electrons have led to devices engineered to improve industries in communication, energy, and sensing. Among the different types of devices, nanoantennas are particularly useful in these industries due to their spectral versatility achieved […]
Prof. Park and Amun attended the Eurotherm Nanoscale and Microscale Heat Transfer VI Conference to present the group’s recent research progresses. A. Jarzembski, T. Tokunaga, J. Crossley, J. Yun, C. Shaskey, R. Murdick, I. Park, M. Francoeur & K. Park (2018). “Heat transfer enhancement due to acoustic phonon tunneling at near-contact vacuum gap distances.” Nanoscale and […]
Our research in collaboration with Prof. Jungchul Lee’s group at KAIST (Korea) has been published in Micro and Nano Systems Letters. The paper title is “Hydrogel tip attached quartz tuning fork for shear force microscopy”. Abstract: This paper reports the first demonstration of hydrogel conical tip attachment onto quartz tuning fork (QTF) by using an […]
Prof. Park attended the 1st Multi-Scale Heat Transfer Workshop at the University of Texas, Dallas (Nov. 14th – 17th), and gave a presentation entitled “Things that can happen in nanoscale vacuum gap distances.”
The U would like to announce that it was selected to receive a $500,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to advance concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) research and development. This project will explore a novel approach to improve the overall solar to thermal collection efficiencies by reducing both optical and thermal losses. Critical to enabling large-scale concentrated […]
In recognition for devotion to advancing research intellectual merit and benefiting the broader impacts to society, the Department of Mechanical Engineering recognized Graduate Student Researchers of the Year at an event on August 24, with faculty and students. Awards were presented for each of the four broad mechanical engineering research areas: “Our students’ success is […]
Devon has successfully finished his PhD proposal defense. The title of his presentation is “Fundamental studies of engineered electron interactions in optical and thermionic devices at the micro and nano scale.” Congratulations, Devon!
UNEL welcomes the joining of A. N. M. Taufiq Elahi for his PhD studies. He graduated from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2017. He will be studying the thermionic emission in a nanogap distance and the development of IR camouflage fabrics.
A lot of energy generated from everyday devices is wasted in the form of heat. Whether it’s a car engine, solar panels or the central processing units (CPUs) that run laptops or smartphones, these devices inevitably dissipate heat into the environment. As of 2017, more than 66 percent of energy resources consumed in the U.S. […]
Prof. Park, the PI of the Utah Nano-Energy Laboratory, has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure as of July 1st, 2018. Congratulations!
The Department of Mechanical Engineering is excited to announce that Ph.D. student, Mohammad Ghashami received a University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowship from the Graduate School. Advised by mechanical engineering associate professor Keunhan “Kay” Park, Ghashami is a member of the Utah Nano-Energy Laboratory. A Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) is a one-year, non-renewable award of which full-time […]
Amun has published in Review of Scientific Instruments. The title of his publication is “Feedback control of local hotspot temperature using resistive on-substrate nanoheater/thermoemeter”. Abstract: This article reports the active control of a local hotspot temperature for accurate nanoscale thermal transport measurement. To this end, we have fabricated resistive on-substrate nanoheater/thermometer (NH/T) devices that have a […]
Mohammad has published in Physical Review Letters. The title of his publication is “Precision Measurement of Phonon-Polaritonic Near-Field Energy Transfer between Macroscale Planar Structures Under Large Thermal Gradients”. Abstract: Despite its strong potentials in emerging energy applications, near-field thermal radiation between large planar structures has not been fully explored in experiments. Particularly, it is extremely challenging to […]
Cedric has passed his PhD qualification exams. To be officially considered as admitted to candidacy in the Ph.D. program, applicants must pass a qualifying exam. The qualification exams are the first of three major steps in the Mechanical Engineering PhD program at the University of Utah. Students select two subject areas which support their Ph.D. research. The topics […]
Devon has published in the Journal of Nanophotonics. The title of his publication is “Design analysis of hybrid silicon-on-nothing photonic crystal–nanoantenna structures for engineering of midinfrared radiative properties”. Abstract: Electromagnetic (EM) behaviors of photonic crystals (PhCs) and nanoantenna (NA) arrays have been extensively studied and applied to a myriad of applications, including light absorption, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, light trapping […]
Dallin is named as one of four Dee Foundation UROP Scholars for 2018 for project entitled “Efficacy of Passive Radiative Thermal Cooling Textiles for Human Application.” Through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), the Dee Foundation recognizes outstanding undergraduate researchers who are contributing to furthering the growth and well-being of the people of Northern Utah. […]
Amun and Cedric have published in the Frontiers of Energy. The title of their publication is “Review: Tip-based vibrational spectroscopy for nanoscale analysis of emerging energy materials”. Abstract: Vibrational spectroscopy is one of the key instrumentations that provide non-invasive investigation of structural and chemical composition for both organic and inorganic materials. However, diffraction of light fundamentally limits the […]
