The BNC Faculty Seminar Series is designed to provide faculty a platform to present an overview of their research and the opportunity for collaborative discussion with other BNC faculty and researchers across six colleges and 15 academic units.

Thomas Beechem

Associate Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering

September 16^th, 2021 | 12:00pm

Join Zoom: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/98695180597

Title: Fusing Light with Heat Thermal Physics for Nanophotonics & Vice Versa

Abstract: Light exhibits a wave nature.  Phonons do too.  Within the infrared portion of the spectrum, these differing “waves” can interact to form hybrid energy carriers called polaritons.  Polaritons, in turn, provide fundamental advantages for optical functionality and thermal transport.  Here, means of capitalizing upon these advantages will be explored.

First, the necessity of creating alternative heat transport channels will be asserted by describing: (1) the generality of size induced reductions in thermal conductivity and (2) the inherently insulative nature of material boundaries on transport. Polaritons—and our ability to engineer them—will then be shown amenable to meeting these challenges. Specifically, polariton dispersion engineering will be demonstrated via an examination of actively tunable infrared metasurfaces leveraging voltage-induced changes in the optical properties of graphene and lead zirconate titanate (PZT).  Building from the ability to tailor dispersion, future directions will be described highlighting means of implementing polaritons to enhance not only nanoscale thermal transport but also infrared sensing and spectroscopy. 

Bio:  Thomas Beechem joined the faculty of Purdue University’s Mechanical Engineering Department in August of 2021.  Beforehand, he was a scientist at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM for 12 years where he held an affiliate appointment with the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT).  Thomas now leads the Specere Laboratory at Purdue, which focuses on leveraging nanoscale phonon-physics to create thermal, spectroscopic (i.e., sensing), and infrared solutions. He has authored more than 85 archival publications, holds 5 patents, and had his work selected as the featured “cover article” on 5 separate occasions by 6 different periodicals.  He received a 2015 Defense Program Award of Excellence and was named one of Sandia’s “Up and Coming Innovators” in 2016.  In 2017, he was named an associate editor for the Journal of Heat Transfer, a role that he remains in today.

Previously recorded talks: https://engineering.purdue.edu/Intranet/Groups/BNC/FacultySeminars

Upcoming BNC Virtual Faculty Seminars and Recorded Talks, Fall 2021:

Date	Faculty	Title
9/16/21	Thomas Beechem, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering	Fusing Light with Heat Thermal Physics for Nanophotonics & Vice Versa
9/23/21	Ryan Wagner, Research Assistant Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering	Vibrations and dynamics applied to Multiphysics problems in MEMS, Manufacturing, and Microscopy
9/30/21	Arun Kumar Mannodi Kanakkithodi, Assistant Professor, School of Materials Engineering	Tuning Optoelectronic Properties of Semiconductors using High-Throughput Computations and Machine Learning
10/7/21	Michelle Thompson, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences	From Atomic Scales to Asteroid Surfaces: Understanding Airless Bodies through Coordinated Analyses
10/14/21	Xiaoping Bao, Assistant Professor, Davidson School of Chemical Engineering	Engineer and Manufacture Off-the-Shelf CAR-NK Cells for Targeted Cancer Immunotherapy
10/21/21
10/28/21	Andres Arrieta, Assistant Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering
11/4/21	Tian Li, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering	Naturally Nanostructured Cellulose towards Energy Water Nexus
11/11/21	Caitlin Proctor, Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering & Environmental and Ecological Engineering	Biofilms in Everyday Life
11/18/21