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Attenuating Super-Planckian Radiative Heat Transfer in Nanoscale Structures
Ayan Majumder1, Kanishka Panda1, Rohith Mittapally1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States.
Nano Letters
|December 31, 2025
Summary
Researchers found that polymers can reduce super-Planckian radiative heat transfer, a phenomenon limiting nanoscale thermal sensors. Using Parylene-C instead of silicon nitride significantly suppresses this enhanced thermal coupling, improving calorimeter performance.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Radiative heat transfer between nanoscale structures can exceed the blackbody limit, known as super-Planckian radiative heat transfer.
- This phenomenon limits the performance of high-resolution calorimeters used in nanoscale thermal sensing, often fabricated from silicon nitride (SiN).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the attenuation of super-Planckian radiative heat transfer using polymers.
- To demonstrate improved performance in nanoscale thermal sensing devices by suppressing enhanced thermal coupling.
Main Methods:
- Computational modeling to analyze the density of guided-modes and absorption spectra of materials.
- Experimental fabrication and testing of devices using Parylene-C and silicon nitride (SiN).
Main Results:
- Calculations showed Parylene-C has fewer guided-modes and lower absorption, suppressing super-Planckian coupling up to 10-fold compared to SiN.
- Experiments confirmed that Parylene-C devices exhibit attenuated radiative coupling compared to SiN devices.
Conclusions:
- Employing polymers like Parylene-C can significantly attenuate super-Planckian radiative heat transfer.
- This attenuation leads to improved performance in high-resolution calorimeters for nanoscale thermal sensing.
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