Karthik Sasihithlu

Karthik Sasihithlu

Associate Professor

ksasihithlu@ese.iitb.ac.in

Academic Background:

  • M.S 2010; Ph.D 2013; Columbia University, New York
  • B.Tech 2008; NIT Karnataka, Surathkal

Contact Address:

7th floor, Department of Energy Science and Engineering Opposite Kendriya Vidyalaya School IIT Powai

(0091 22) - 2576 9347
ksasihithlu'AT'iitb.ac.in
ksasihithlu'AT'ese.iitb.ac.in


https://www.ese.iitb.ac.in/~ks/

Research Interest:

  • Light-matter interaction, metamaterials, hyperbolic materials
  • Thin film solar photovoltaics
  • Energy transport in photosynthesis
  • Long range dipole-dipole interactions in biological molecules

Courses Offered:

  • Utilization of solar thermal energy (Spring 2018-19)
  • Physics for Energy Science (Fall 2019-24)
  • Micro and Nanoscale energy transport (Spring 2020-2024)

List of Publications:

  1. Electronic excitation transfer dynamics in a 3‐site system using an incoherent Born‐Markov rate model; Amit Upadhyay, Karthik Sasihithlu; ChemPhysChem, e202500029, 2025
  2. Cooling Performance of TiO2-Based Radiative Cooling Coating in Tropical Conditions; Bhrigu Rishi Mishra, Sreerag Sundaram, Karthik Sasihithlu; ACS omega 9 (50), 49494-49502, 2024
  3. Vibrational Dipole–Dipole Coupling and Long-Range Forces between Macromolecules; Karthik Sasihithlu, Gregory Scholes; The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 128 (5), 1205-1208, 2024
  4. Semi-analytical technique for the design of disordered coatings with tailored optical properties", Bhrigu Rishi Mishra, Nithin Jo Varghese, Karthik Sasihithlu; Optics Express, Vol. 31, pp. 10201, 2023.
  5. Enhanced performance of ultrathin n-i-p and p-i-n perovskite solar cells via light trapping: a simulation study employing Lambertian back reflector", Anil Tumuluri, Samiulla Ansari, Karthik Sasihithlu; Material Research Express, Vol. 9, pp. 125502, 2022
  6. Disordered metamaterial coating for daytime passive radiative cooling", Bhrigu Rishi Mishra, Sreerag Sundaram, Nithin Jo Varghese, Karthik Sasihithlu; AIP Advances, Vol. 11, pp. 105218, 2021.
  7. Coupling parameters for modelling the near-field heat transfer between molecules; Karthik Sasihithlu; Frontiers in Physics, Volume 9, pp. 682939, 2021.
  8. [Commentary] Heat transferred in a previously unknown way K. Sasihithlu Nature 576, 216-217 (2019) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03729-4?draft=collection
  9. Coupled harmonic oscillator model to describe surface-mode mediated heat transfer K. Sasihithlu Journal of Photonics for Energy, 9(3) (2018)
  10. Dynamic near-field heat transfer between planar surfaces for nanometric gaps K. Sasihithlu, G. Agarwal Nanophotonics, 7(9), (2018)
  11. Van der Waals force assisted heat transfer; K. Sasihithlu, J.B. Pendry, R. Craster; Zeitschrift fr Naturforschung A72.2 (2017); https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/zna.2017.72.issue-2/zna-2016-0361/zna-2016-0361.xml
  12. Light Trapping in Ultrathin CIGS Solar Cell With Absorber Thickness of 0.1 μm; K. Sasihithlu, N. Dahan, J-J Greffet; IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics (2017); https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8288696/
  13. Phonon assisted heat transfer across a vacuum gap; J.B. Pendry, K. Sasihithlu, R. Craster; Physical Review B 94, 075414 (2016); http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.075414
  14. A surface-scattering model satisfying energy conservation and reciprocity; K. Sasihithlu, N. Dahan, J-P Hugonin, J-J Greffet; Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 171, 4-14 (2016); http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022407315300601
  15. Near-field radiative transfer between two unequal sized spheres with large size disparities; K. Sasihithlu and A. Naryanaswamy; Optics Express 22 (12), 14473-14492 (2013) https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-22-12-14473
  16. Phonon transport across a vacuum gap; D. P. Sellan, E. S. Landry, K. Sasihithlu, A. Narayanaswamy, A. McGaughey, and C. Amon. Physical Review B, 85, 024118 (2012) http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.024118
  17. Convergence of vector spherical wave expansion method applied to near-field radiative transfer; K. Sasihithlu and A. Naryanaswamy; Optics Express, Vol. 19, Issue S4, pp. A772-A785 (2011); https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-19-S4-A772
  18. Proximity effects in radiative heat transfer; K. Sasihithlu and A. Naryanaswamy; Physical Review B (Rapid communications), 83(16), 161406 (2011); http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.83.161406

Work Experience:

  • Marie Curie Fellow, Imperial College London
  • Postdoctoral researcher, Institut d'Optique, France

Additional Information:

Ongoing projects:
1) Development of selective emitter coatings to reduce solar heating in homes
( 1 year, from July 2019) (Funded by La Fondation Dassault Systèmes)

The objective of this project is to design a selective emitter which when coated on the walls of enclosures will lead to decrease in temperature of the interior space of the enclosure through passive cooling. The required electromagnetic properties of the emitter is being modelled using commerical electromagnetic solvers CST Studio respectively.
Students currently working on this topic :
Bhrigu Rishi Mishra (PMRF fellow)
Sreerag Sundaraman (PMRF fellow)
Nithin Jo Varghese (Project Staff)

2) Design of thermal barrier coatings
The objective of this project is to design coating suitable for high temperature applications such as gas turbines where both thermal conduction and radiative heat transfer play a prominent role

Students currently working on this topic :
Harish (MSc-PhD 2019 batch)

3) Design of radar absorbing coatings
The objective of this project is to design effective all dielectric coatings for the defense sector serving as effective radar absorption material

Students currently working on this topic :
Riya Khaneja (MSc-PhD 2019 batch)

4) Modelling of dipole-dipole electromagnetic interactions between biological molecules
The objective of this project is to model the dipole-dipole interactions in photosynthetic molecules from first principles
Students currently working on this topic :
Gaurav Bansode (PhD student 2018 batch)
Amit Upadhyaya (MSc-PhD 2017 batch)

5) Increasing optical absorption in Perovskite solar cells and organic solar cells
The objective of this project is to explore methods such as employing a layer of white paint to increase light absorption in thin-film solar cells such as in organic and Perovskite solar cells.
Students working on this topic: Dr. Anil Tumuluri (Institute postdoc)
Disha Yadav (UGC fellow 2020)

Department of Energy Science and Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Powai, Mumbai - 400076, INDIA

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