Eric Tervo, Ph.D.
Nozik Postdoctoral Fellow
Materials and Chemical Science and Technology
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Fri., Nov. 15, 1:00 pm
Milner Executive Boardroom (0560 MEK)
ABSTRACT: Thermal radiation in systems of many nanostructures or layered media can be very complex, especially when combined with non-thermal effects such as luminescent radiation. Additionally, when the materials support evanescent surface modes, near-field coupling can be strong and enable radiation heat transfer far above the blackbody limit. However, practical use of these effects has been limited due to deficiencies in the understanding and modeling of thermal-electromagnetic-electric interactions, particularly for closely spaced nanostructures and biased semiconductor materials. This presentation will describe improvements in the theoretical description, modeling approach, and experimental investigation of radiative energy transfer in these systems. New and existing methods are used to gain insight into collective electromagnetic behavior, propose new 1D material structures with substantial photonic thermal conduction, and predict combined electric and radiative transport in semiconductor devices. Finally, applications of this research will be discussed, including thermal management, energy conversion, and photonic circuits.
BIO: Eric Tervo is the Nozik Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then spent two years at Southwest Research Institute, where he conducted fluid dynamics research for oil and gas industry applications. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied near-field thermal radiation in a variety of nanostructure arrays. Dr. Tervo’s research at NREL focuses on thermal energy conversion by radiative semiconductor devices, such as thermophotovoltaics and thermoradiative cells