MechE Colloquium: Molecular Electronics as a Playground for Nanoscale Thermal Transport
Event details
| Date | 02.12.2025 |
| Hour | 12:00 › 13:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Juan Carlos Cuevas, Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics Department, Autonomous University of Madrid |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Abstract: With the advent of novel fabrication techniques in the 1980s and 1990s, it became possible to explore many transport phenomena at the nanoscale where classical laws no longer apply. Since then, a lot of progress has been done in the understanding of the electronic transport, mechanical, and optical properties of nanoscale devices. However, thermal transport in these systems has remained relatively unexplored because of the experimental difficulties to measure the flow of heat and energy at this small scale. In this talk, I will review our theoretical and experimental efforts in recent years to establish the fundamental laws that govern nanoscale thermal transport by using atomic and molecular junctions as a playground. I will briefly discuss fundamental phenomena such as Joule heating and Peltier cooling in molecular junctions [1,2], quantized thermal transport in atomic-size contacts [3], heat conduction through water nanomenisci [4], and phonon interference in single-molecule junctions [5].
[1] W. Lee, K. Kim, W. Jeong, L.A. Zotti, F. Pauly, J.C. Cuevas, P. Reddy, Nature 498, 209 (2013).
[2] L. Cui, R. Miao, K. Wang, D. Thompson, L.A. Zotti, J.C. Cuevas, E. Meyhofer, P. Reddy, Nature Nanotechnology 13, 122 (2018).
[3] L. Cui, W. Jeong, S. Hur, M. Matt, J.C Klöckner, F. Pauly, J.C. Cuevas, E. Meyhofer, P. Reddy, Science 355, 1192 (2017).
[4] R. López-Nebreda, O. Mateos-López, P.M. Martínez, J.J. García-Esteban, A. Babe, N. Roca-Giménez, P. Segovia, E.G. Michel, E.J.H. Lee, J.G. Vilhena, J.C. Cuevas, N. Agraït, Nature Communications 16, 7342 (2025).
[5] S.C Yelishala, Y. Zhu, P.M. Martinez, H. Chen, M. Habibi, G. Prampolini, J.C. Cuevas, W. Zhang, J.G. Vilhena, L. Cui, Nature Materials 24, 1258 (2025).
Biography: Juan Carlos Cuevas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. He received his Physics degree in 1993 and his Ph.D. in Physics in 1999 from the same university, under the supervision of Álvaro Martín Rodero and Alfredo Levy Yeyati.
Following his doctoral studies, he joined the group of Prof. Gerd Schön at the Universität Karlsruhe (Germany) as a Marie Curie Fellow and later led a Junior Research Group on the theoretical aspects of molecular electronics within the Institut für Theoretische Festkörperphysik. Since 2007, he has held a permanent position at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where his research focuses on electronic transport, superconductivity, and quantum effects in nanoscale systems and molecular junctions.
Prof. Cuevas has been a visiting professor and Mercator Fellow multiple times at the University of Konstanz (Germany) and has also been a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
[1] W. Lee, K. Kim, W. Jeong, L.A. Zotti, F. Pauly, J.C. Cuevas, P. Reddy, Nature 498, 209 (2013).
[2] L. Cui, R. Miao, K. Wang, D. Thompson, L.A. Zotti, J.C. Cuevas, E. Meyhofer, P. Reddy, Nature Nanotechnology 13, 122 (2018).
[3] L. Cui, W. Jeong, S. Hur, M. Matt, J.C Klöckner, F. Pauly, J.C. Cuevas, E. Meyhofer, P. Reddy, Science 355, 1192 (2017).
[4] R. López-Nebreda, O. Mateos-López, P.M. Martínez, J.J. García-Esteban, A. Babe, N. Roca-Giménez, P. Segovia, E.G. Michel, E.J.H. Lee, J.G. Vilhena, J.C. Cuevas, N. Agraït, Nature Communications 16, 7342 (2025).
[5] S.C Yelishala, Y. Zhu, P.M. Martinez, H. Chen, M. Habibi, G. Prampolini, J.C. Cuevas, W. Zhang, J.G. Vilhena, L. Cui, Nature Materials 24, 1258 (2025).
Biography: Juan Carlos Cuevas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. He received his Physics degree in 1993 and his Ph.D. in Physics in 1999 from the same university, under the supervision of Álvaro Martín Rodero and Alfredo Levy Yeyati.
Following his doctoral studies, he joined the group of Prof. Gerd Schön at the Universität Karlsruhe (Germany) as a Marie Curie Fellow and later led a Junior Research Group on the theoretical aspects of molecular electronics within the Institut für Theoretische Festkörperphysik. Since 2007, he has held a permanent position at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where his research focuses on electronic transport, superconductivity, and quantum effects in nanoscale systems and molecular junctions.
Prof. Cuevas has been a visiting professor and Mercator Fellow multiple times at the University of Konstanz (Germany) and has also been a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Practical information
- General public
- Free