Project Description

Energy is precious. Its use threatens the planet even as the world’s appetite becomes increasingly ravenous in powering the modern information age. The energy driving artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data centers will utilize 15% of TOTAL world production by 2040. The trend is unsustainable.

Solutions demand revolutionary ways controlling thermal energy. “Old” ways won’t work. “New” energy carriers are needed. Polaritons—quasiparticles made up of photons and material dipoles provide a path. Recent work has proven the potential for polaritons as an additional heat carrying channel for both conduction and radiation at the smallest scales. Transforming this potential into practical solutions is next. Within this fellowship, you will design, fabricate, and build “polariton powered” thermal solutions to impact the world’s energy consumption. In collaborating with mentors Beechem, Lin, and Ruan, you will identify applications where polaritons unlock thermal solutions that traditional energy carriers cannot. Practically, you will take a polariton thermal solution from ideation to realization by leveraging differentiating theoretical and material characterization tools developed by the mentors with Purdue’s newly renovated nanofabrication facility. By extending the science of polariton-mediated thermal transport to realize practical solutions, the fellowship will culminate in career opportunities spanning from academic to entrepreneurial.

Start Date

May 2025 to April 2027

Post Doc Qualifications

• A Ph.D. in engineering, physics, or related discipline

• Experience in one, or more, of the following areas: (1) first-principles thermal or optical property prediction (2) thermal property measurement, (3) near-field optical phenomena, (4) thermophotovoltaics.

• The ability to communicate expertly within and between disciplines both via the written and spoken word as evidenced via a strong scholarly record.

• A demonstrated ability to work independently within an interdisciplinary team while being both mentored and taking on a mentoring role.

Co-Advisors

Thomas Beechem
Email: tbeechem@purdue.edu
Affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering
Website: www.specere.org

Guang Lin
email:guanglin@purdue.edu
Affiliation: Departments of Mathematics & School of Mechanical Engineering
Website: https://www.math.purdue.edu/~lin491/

Xiulin Ruan
email: ruan@purdue.edu
Affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering
Website: https://engineering.purdue.edu/NANOENERGY/ 

Bibliography