Abstract:

Microscopic energy transport processes mediated by fundamental energy carriers, including phonons, electrons and spins, play an essential role in determining the performance of next-generation energy and electronic materials. Despite significant recent progress in experimental and computational methods to probe and model these processes, fundamental challenges remain in our capability to predict and engineer energy transport properties of materials, especially when they are driven far away from thermal equilibrium. In this talk, I will discuss our recent experimental and computational efforts to understand microscopic energy transport processes in emerging energy and electronic materials. First, I will describe our development of a scanning ultrafast electron microscope (SUEM) that can directly image photoexcited nonequilibrium energy transport processes with combined high spatial and temporal resolutions, which are highly relevant for photovoltaic applications. Second, I will discuss our recent understanding of the impact of nonequilibrium electron-phonon interaction on thermal, electrical and thermoelectric transport in semiconductors, with a particular focus on wide bandgap semiconductors for power electronics and 2D semiconductors.

Biography:

Bolin Liao is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at UCSB. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from MIT in 2016 and was a Kavli postdoc scholar at Caltech from 2016 to 2017. His current research focuses on the fundamental understanding of microscopic energy transport mediated by phonons, electrons and spins in emerging quantum and energy materials and their potential application in next-generation energy and electronic systems. His research has been recognized by an outstanding Ph.D. thesis award from MIT, a Kavli prize postdoctoral fellowship in nanoscience from Caltech and several young investigator awards from federal agencies, including an NSF CAREER award.

ALL INTERESTED ARE WELCOME