Thermal properties as a research area focuses on the quantitative characterization, prediction, and control of how materials and systems store, conduct, and exchange heat. It encompasses investigation of thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, thermal expansion, and related transport coefficients across temperature, pressure, and phase regimes. Research typically integrates experimental calorimetry and thermal analysis, steady-state and transient heat-flow methods, and atomistic or continuum simulations to elucidate phonon, electron, and radiative contributions. This domain underpins advances in thermal management, energy conversion, high-temperature materials, cryogenics, and micro/nanoscale heat transfer, often coupling with mechanical, electrical, and structural behavior.
A new quantum transport theory reveals how femtosecond time scale thermoelectric fluctuations influence energy control at the nanoscale. The University of Jyväskylä, Finland, has contributed to the development of a theoretical ...
Nanophysics
Oct 29, 2025
0
29
Topological insulators could form the basis for revolutionary electronic components. However, as they generally only function at very low temperatures, their practical application has been severely limited to date. Researchers ...
Condensed Matter
Oct 27, 2025
0
87
More heat is transferred between objects that are just a few nanometers apart than physics theory predicts. A research team at the University of Oldenburg has now confirmed this phenomenon, which was first observed several ...
Nanophysics
Oct 23, 2025
0
104
University of Houston researchers have made a discovery in thermal conductivity that overturns an existing theory that boron arsenide (BAs) couldn't compete with the heat conduction of a diamond.
Condensed Matter
Oct 22, 2025
0
58
Imagine being able to program materials to control heat like you can control a light with a dimmer switch. By simply squeezing or stretching the materials, you can make them hotter or colder.
Nanomaterials
Oct 15, 2025
0
88
Heat has always been something we thought we understood. From baking bread to running engines, the idea seemed simple: heat spreads out smoothly, like water soaking through a sponge. That simple picture, written down by Joseph ...
General Physics
Oct 6, 2025
0
206
Caltech scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)–based method that dramatically speeds up calculations of the quantum interactions that take place in materials. In new work, the group focuses on interactions ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 16, 2025
0
207
Heat affects not only our well-being, but also the performance and lifespan of systems and devices. However, it is often difficult to measure these effects accurately.
General Physics
Sep 8, 2025
0
58
Chinese researchers have developed a new carbon nanotube insulator that can withstand high temperatures up to 2,600°C, outperforming all other materials used for extreme-temperature applications. This breakthrough could be ...
A research team from Aarhus University, Denmark, has measured and explained the exceptionally low thermal conductivity of the crystalline material AgGaGe3Se8. Despite its ordered structure, the material behaves like a glass ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 3, 2025
0
86
