The Allen group focuses on exploring the thermal and physical properties of materials using nanocalorimetry. Nanocalorimetry is a technique enabled by using microelectrical mechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication techniques to create miniaturized thermal sensors that are sensitive to tiny amounts of material.

The group has used nanocalorimetry to study:

• crystallization and melting in phase-change materials
• size transitions in 2D aliphatic layers
• melting in single layer silver alkanethiolate lamella
• size effects in thin film layers
• melting of metallic nanoparticles (In, Sn, Bi, etc.)