ME EN 5630 - Nanoscale Heat Transfer

Traditional macroscale thermal science is based on classical equilibrium and continuum assumptions. These assumptions break down at the molecular and atomic length scales, and the classical theories, such as Fourier’s law for heat conduction or Planck’s blackbody distribution for radiation, are no longer applicable at micro/nanoscale. With the major progress over the past two decades in controlling matter at the nanoscale, nanotechnology is becoming an integral part of almost all engineering disciplines. This course will provide a self-contained overview of thermal transport and thermophysical properties at the nanoscale, and will introduce the elements of quantum mechanics, solid state physics, statistical thermodynamics and fluctuational electrodynamics necessary to understand these phenomena.