Nanoscale Hot Spots

 


When your laptop or iPhone overheats, it’s suffering from a nanoscale heat transfer issue. Trying to locate the problem can be nearly impossible. 

The university of Rochester’s department of mechanical engineering is studying this dilemma. Assistant professor Andrea Pickel States, “ The building blocks of our modern electronics are transistors with nanoscale features. To understand which Parts are overheating, the first step is to get a detailed map. . . But you need something with scale resolution to do that.” 

The current optical thermometry Techniques are out of date because they have limits on the spatial resolution that’s possible. Pickel and her team are using super resolution fluorescence microscopy methods used originally in biological imaging. 

In a new article published in science advances, researchers revealed the process for mapping out heat transfer using luminescence nano particles.

First, they apply highly doped Nanoparticles to the surface of a given device. The scientists were able to achieve high resolution for thermometry at the nano scale level from an amazing 10 mm away!

This is an extremely far distance, as the technique usually operates less than 1 mm away. Pikel was again inspired by biological imaging. Applying the different techniques to electronics had significant barriers as they involved totally different materials. 

“ Our requirements are very different from biologists because they are looking at things like cells and water-based materials,” states Pikel, “Often, They might have a liquid like water or an oil between their objective lens and the sample. That’s great for biological imaging, but if you’re working with an electronic device, that’s the last thing you want.”

The paper outlines a technique that uses an electrical heater. The team designed it to produce sharp temperature changes, but Pikel Says their method can also be used by electrical component manufacturers. 

The team will continue to research and refine applying layers of nanoparticles to devices in the future! 

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