Lucas Lindsay

Bio:

Dr. Lucas Lindsay received a BS degree in physics from the College of Charleston in 2004.  He did his PhD work on theoretical thermal transport in carbon nanostructures at Boston College and received his PhD in 2010.  Following this he taught physics for two years at Christopher Newport University, then spent three years as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.  He has been a research scientist in the Materials Science and Technology Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 2014.  He received the Department of Energy Early Career Award in 2019. His general research area is the theoretical description of vibrational and transport properties of condensed matter.  

Presentation title: Insights from Vibrational Thermal Transport Modeling

Abstract: Computational materials modeling is playing an ever-increasing role in developing fundamental insights into vibrational and thermal behaviors of solids, which determine the utility of a material for applications including thermoelectricity, nuclear power generation, and heat dissipation. Here, I will discuss theoretical and numerical advances towards modeling lattice dynamical properties and thermal conductivity of materials, with specific examples to highlight predictive capabilities and the role of symmetries. I will first highlight efforts to benchmark three commonly-used open-source vibrational thermal transport packages: ALAMODE, ShengBTE, and Phonon3py. I will then discuss recent developments to understand the behavior of phonons as they interact with electrons, spins, defects, and disorder in a variety of materials. L.L. acknowledges support from the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division.