Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Description
Parallel treatments of photons, electrons, phonons, and molecules as energy carriers, aiming at fundamental understanding and descriptive tools for energy and heat transport processes from nanoscale continuously to macroscale. Topics include the energy levels, the statistical behavior and internal energy, energy transport in the forms of waves and particles, scattering and heat generation processes, Boltzmann equation and derivation of classical laws, deviation from classical laws at nanoscale and their appropriate descriptions, with applications in nano- and microtechnology.
Textbook
Chen, Gang. Nanoscale Energy Transport and Conversion: A Parallel Treatment of Electrons, Molecules, Phonons, and Photons. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780195159424. [Preview with Google Books]
Homework
Students are required to complete weekly homework, due on the second session of each week. For graduate students: complete homework plus weekly paper reading. For undergraduate students: complete homework (sometimes less than graduate assignment) and no weekly paper report.
Grading
There is no final exam.
For undergraduate Students: 10% Bonus will be given for undergraduate students following graduate assignments.
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Homework | 50% |
| Two Midterms | 25% each |
For graduate Students:
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Homework | 40% |
| Two Midterms | 25% each |
| Final Project | 10% |
Calendar
| LEC # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro to Nanotechnology and Nanoscale Transport Phenomena | |
| 2 | Characteristic Time and Length, Simple Kinetic Theory | |
| 3 | Schrödinger Equation and Material Waves | |
| 4 | Solution of Schrödinger Equation, Energy Quantization | |
| 5 | Electronic Levels in One-Dimensional Lattice Chain | Homework 1 due |
| 6 | Crystal Bonding and Electronic Energy Levels in Crystals | |
| 7 | Phonon Energy Levels in Crystal and Crystal Structures | Homework 2 due |
| 8 | Density of States and Statistical Distributions | |
| 9 | Specific Heat and Planck’s Law | Homework 3 due |
| 10 | Fundamental of Statistical Thermodynamics | |
| 11 | Energy Transfer by Waves: Plane Waves | Homework 4 due |
| 12 | Electromagnetic Waves: Reflection at a Single Interface | |
| 13 | EM Wave Propagation Through Thin Films and Multilayers | Homework 5 due |
| 14 | Wave Phenomena and Landauer Formalism | |
| Midterm 1 | Homework 6 due | |
| 15 | Particle Description, Liouville and Boltzmann Equations | |
| 16 | Fermi Golden Rule and Relaxation Time Approximation | |
| 17 | Solutions to Boltzmann Equation: Diffusion Laws | Homework 7 due |
| 18 | Electron Transport and Thermoelectric Effects | |
| 19 | Classical Size Effects, Parallel Direction | Homework 8 due |
| 20 | Classical Size Effects, Perpendicular Direction | |
| 21 | Slip Condition, Coupled Energy Transport and Conversion | Homework 9 due |
| 22 | PN junction, Diode and Photovoltaic Cells | Take-home midterm 2 out |
| 23 | Liquids: Brownian Motion and Forces in Liquids | Take-home midterm 2 due in class |
| 24 | Electrical Double Layer, Size Effects in Phase Change | |
| 25 | Statistical Foundation for Molecular Dynamics Simulation | Final project report due |