Diamond Heat

The Supersized Science podcast features research and discoveries nationwide enabled by advanced computing technology and expertise at the Texas Advanced Computing Center of the University of Texas at Austin. Diamond is the hardest material found in nature — diamond also has the highest thermal conductivity, allowing the most heat to flow through it rapidly. An international team of scientists used TACC’s Frontera supercomputer for simulations that found that by flexing diamond, its thermal conductivity can be drastically tuned up or down. Scientists worldwide are interested in studying elastic strain engineering to discover the properties that materials exhibit when they are under large tensile or shear stresses. Findings like this could open the door for developing new microelectronic and optoelectronic devices such as computer chips, quantum sensors, communication devices, and more. Podcast host Jorge Salazar, a science writer at TACC, is joined on the podcast by Frank Shi, a former researcher in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Shi is now a technical lead at Apple. Shi co-authored a study revealing diamond’s tunable thermal conductivity published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in February 2024. Supersized Science is part of the Texas Podcast Network – the conversations changing the world – brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. TACC link: https://tacc.utexas.edu/news/latest-news/2024/05/29/diamond-heat/ Music Credits: Raro Bueno, Chuzausen freemusicarchive.org/music/Chuzausen/