Event
Ph.D. Research Proposal Exam: Zhihao Song
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
2:00 p.m.
ERF1207
ANNOUNCEMENT: Ph.D. Research Proposal Exam
Name: Zhihao Song
Committee:
Oded Rabin (Chair)
Thomas E. Murphy
Kevin M. Daniels
Date/time: October 27th, 2026 2 pm - 4 pm
Location: ERF 1207
Title: Heat flux Sensor Based on Transverse Seebeck Effect
Abstract:
Reliable measurement of heat flux is of great fundamental interest and critical importance across a wide range of applications, from thermal protection systems in industrial and aerospace settings to thermal management in consumer electronics and wearable devices. However, existing heat-flux sensing technologies are predominantly based on the conventional Seebeck effect (CSE), which requires multiple series-connected junctions between dissimilar materials. This architecture is structurally complex and reduces reliability under thermal cycling and mechanical vibration. Such structural complexity also hinders miniaturization and integration into compact, planar platforms, thereby limiting their adoption in consumer electronics and wearable thermal-monitoring applications. The transverse Seebeck effect (TSE), a thermoelectric phenomenon that arises from the anisotropic Seebeck-coefficient tensor of a single material and generates a thermoelectric voltage perpendicular to the applied heat flux, offers a promising alternative, enabling heat-flux detection with a single transducer material and all electrical connections confined to the cold side. This provides a route toward structurally simple and mechanically robust heat-flux sensors.
This dissertation proposes to study the applicability of TSE across materials with different dimensions for heat-flux sensing. First, single-crystal antimony will be employed as the transducer material to design and fabricate TSE-based heat-flux sensors suitable for operation up to several hundred degrees Celsius. The steady-state response, transient dynamics, and relative contributions of the transverse and conventional Seebeck effects will be investigated to fully characterize sensor performance. Second, a dedicated on-chip calibration platform will be developed for characterizing TSE sensors based on anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) materials, enabling precise control of temperature gradients and measurement of both transverse and conventional Seebeck voltages. Together, these two efforts are expected to establish the viability of TSE-based heat-flux sensing and lay the groundwork for its extension to a broader range of application scenarios.
