Back to results

Virginia Tech

Heat Transfer Issues in Thin-Film Thermal Radiation Detectors

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The Thermal Radiation Group at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has been working closely with scientists and engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center to develop accurate analytical and numerical models suitable for designing next-generation thin-film thermal radiation detectors for earth radiation budget measurement applications. The current study provides an analytical model of the notional thermal radiation detector that takes into account thermal transport phenomena, such as the contact resistance between the layers of the detector, and is suitable for use in parameter estimation. It was found that the responsivity of the detector can increase significantly due to the presence of contact resistance between the layers of the detector. Also presented is the effect of doping the thermal impedance layer of the detector with conducting particles in order to electrically link the two junctions of the detector. It was found that the responsivity and the time response of the doped detector decrease significantly in this case. The corresponding decrease of the electrical resistance of the doped thermal impedance layer is not sufficient to significantly improve the electrical performance of the detector. Finally, the "roughness effect" is shown to be unable to explain the decrease in the thermal conductivity often reported for thin-film layers

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Mechanical Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
1999

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Barry, Mamadou Yaya
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Mahan, James Robert
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Diller, Thomas E.
  • Vick, Brian L.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-122099-205311
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36357

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Barry, Mamadou Yaya. Heat Transfer Issues in Thin-Film Thermal Radiation Detectors. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/36357