Phonon Conduction Normal to Polysilicon Films on Diamond

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jungwan Cho ◽  
Pane C. Chao ◽  
Mehdi Asheghi ◽  
Kenneth E. Goodson
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Transport Theory ◽  
Phonon Scattering ◽  
Phonon Transport ◽  
Silicon Films ◽  
Silicon Thin Films ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Crystal Films ◽  
Polysilicon Films ◽  
Polycrystalline Silicon Films

Silicon films of thickness near and below one micrometer play a central role in many advanced technologies for computation and energy conversion. Numerous data on the thermal conductivity of silicon thin films are available in the literature, but mainly for the in-plane thermal conductivity of polycrystalline and single-crystal films. Here we use picosecond time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR), transmission electron microscopy, and phonon transport theory to investigate heat conduction normal to polycrystalline silicon films on diamond substrates. The data agree with predictions that account for the coupled effects of phonon scattering on film boundaries and defects concentrated near grain boundaries. Using the data and the model, we estimate the polysilicon-diamond interface resistance to be 6.5–8 m2 K GW−1.

Cross-Plane Phonon Conduction in Polycrystalline Silicon Films

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jungwan Cho ◽  
Daniel Francis ◽  
Pane C. Chao ◽  
Mehdi Asheghi ◽  
Kenneth E. Goodson
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Polycrystalline Silicon ◽  
Transport Theory ◽  
Phonon Scattering ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Phonon Transport ◽  
Silicon Films ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Crystalline Films ◽  
Polycrystalline Silicon Films

Silicon films of submicrometer thickness play a central role in many advanced technologies for computation and energy conversion. Numerous thermal conductivity data for silicon films are available in the literature, but they are mainly for the lateral, or in-plane, direction for both polycrystalline and single crystalline films. Here, we use time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR), transmission electron microscopy, and semiclassical phonon transport theory to investigate thermal conduction normal to polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) films of thickness 79, 176, and 630 nm on a diamond substrate. The data agree with theoretical predictions accounting for the coupled effects of phonon scattering on film boundaries and defects related to grain boundaries. Using the data and the phonon transport model, we extract the normal, or cross-plane thermal conductivity of the polysilicon (11.3 ± 3.5, 14.2 ± 3.5, and 25.6 ± 5.8 W m−1 K−1 for the 79, 176, and 630 nm films, respectively), as well as the thermal boundary resistance between polysilicon and diamond (6.5–8 m2 K GW−1) at room temperature. The nonuniformity in the extracted thermal conductivities is due to spatially varying distributions of imperfections in the direction normal to the film associated with nucleation and coalescence of grains and their subsequent columnar growth.

Thermal Conductance of Nanoparticles: A Study of Phonon Transport in Functionalized Nanodiamond Suspensions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Bain ◽  
Ethan Languri ◽  
Venkat Padmanabhan ◽  
Jim Davidson ◽  
David Kerns
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Transport Theory ◽  
Constitutive Relations ◽  
Thermal Conductance ◽  
Phonon Transport ◽  
Suspension Stability ◽  
Kapitza Resistance ◽  
Conductivity Enhancement ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract Nanoparticle additives, with their anomalous thermal conductivity, have attracted attention in research and industry as a novel mode of enhancing the heat transfer mediums. Most studies conducted on nanoparticle suspensions in liquids, pastes, or composites at present have relied on constitutive relations using properties of the bulk substance and of the nanoparticle to explain the effective thermal conductivity. In order to utilize nanoparticles in real world engineering applications, chemical functionalization of the surface of the nanoparticle is frequently employed, either to suspend in liquid applications or to stabilize in arrays. In this study, we have sought to explain the underlying mechanisms of thermal conductivity enhancement taking into consideration the nanoscale effects, such as phonon transport in the nanoparticle coupled with vibrational modes of the surface functional molecules, in order to tailor the functional groups not only for suspension stability but also for minimizing Kapitza resistance at the surface of the nanoparticle. Density functional theory simulations in SIESTA and equilibrium transport theory analysis via GOLLUM2 were used in tandem to evaluate the thermal transport at the nanoparticle to surface ligand junction. By treating the nanoparticle surface and the polymer or acid coating as distinct homogeneous substrates, a model for thermal conductivity becomes more tractable.

Crystallization of Tin-Implanted Amorphous Silicon Thin Films

1992 ◽  
Vol 279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuyu Lin ◽  
Miltiadis K. Hatalis
Keyword(s):  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Crystallization Process ◽  
Silicon Films ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
Crystallization Time ◽  
Silicon Thin Films ◽  
Fine Grain ◽  
Annealing Conditions ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Si Films

ABSTRACTThe crystallization of Sn-implanted amorphous silicon was studied as a function of tin implant dose and annealing conditions by transmission electron microscopy. The films were implanted at an energy of 110 keV with a dose in the range of 5 × 1014 to 5×1016 cm−2 and were annealed at a temperature in the range of 450°C to 550°C. An enhanced rate of crystallization in amorphous Si-Sn films compared to the non-implanted amorphous silicon films during thermal annealing was observed. The crystallization process of Si films implanted with tin at a dose of 2.5×1016 cm−2 or less is very similar to unimplanted silicon films except higher nucleation rates and shorter crystallization time were observed with increasing tin dose. Films implanted with tin at a dose of 2.5×1016 cm−2 or more display extremely rapid crystallization (3 hours at 450°C) and very fine grain structure (10 nm); no substantial grain growth has been observed during lurther annealing, but some single crystal-like areas were formed. In-situ annealing of silicon implanted to 5×1016 cm−2 showed that the crystallization process is enhanced by the formation of the liquid tin phase.

Monte Carlo Study of Phonon Heat Conduction in Silicon Thin Films Including Contributions of Optical Phonons

2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arpit Mittal ◽  
Sandip Mazumder
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Heat Conduction ◽  
Phonon Scattering ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Optical Phonons ◽  
Phonon Modes ◽  
Silicon Thin Film ◽  
Silicon Thin Films

Abstract The Monte Carlo method has found prolific use in the solution of the Boltzmann transport equation for phonons for the prediction of nonequilibrium heat conduction in crystalline thin films. This paper contributes to the state-of-the-art by performing a systematic study of the role of the various phonon modes on thermal conductivity predictions, in particular, optical phonons. A procedure to calculate three-phonon scattering time-scales with the inclusion of optical phonons is described and implemented. The roles of various phonon modes are assessed. It is found that transverse acoustic (TA) phonons are the primary carriers of energy at low temperatures. At high temperatures (T>200 K), longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonons carry more energy than TA phonons. When optical phonons are included, there is a significant change in the amount of energy carried by various phonons modes, especially at room temperature, where optical modes are found to carry about 25% of the energy at steady state in silicon thin films. Most importantly, it is found that inclusion of optical phonons results in better match with experimental observations for silicon thin-film thermal conductivity. The inclusion of optical phonons is found to decrease the thermal conductivity at intermediate temperatures (50–200 K) and to increase it at high temperature (>200 K), especially when the film is thin. The effect of number of stochastic samples, the dimensionality of the computational domain (two-dimensional versus three-dimensional), and the lateral (in-plane) dimension of the film on the statistical accuracy and computational efficiency is systematically studied and elucidated for all temperatures.

scholarly journals Thermal transport in nanocrystalline Si and SiGe by ab initio based Monte Carlo simulation

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Yang ◽  
Austin J. Minnich
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Ab Initio ◽  
Grain Boundaries ◽  
Thermal Transport ◽  
Phonon Scattering ◽  
Phonon Dispersion ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Phonon Transport ◽  
Nanocrystalline Si

Abstract Nanocrystalline thermoelectric materials based on Si have long been of interest because Si is earth-abundant, inexpensive, and non-toxic. However, a poor understanding of phonon grain boundary scattering and its effect on thermal conductivity has impeded efforts to improve the thermoelectric figure of merit. Here, we report an ab-initio based computational study of thermal transport in nanocrystalline Si-based materials using a variance-reduced Monte Carlo method with the full phonon dispersion and intrinsic lifetimes from first-principles as input. By fitting the transmission profile of grain boundaries, we obtain excellent agreement with experimental thermal conductivity of nanocrystalline Si [Wang et al. Nano Letters 11, 2206 (2011)]. Based on these calculations, we examine phonon transport in nanocrystalline SiGe alloys with ab-initio electron-phonon scattering rates. Our calculations show that low energy phonons still transport substantial amounts of heat in these materials, despite scattering by electron-phonon interactions, due to the high transmission of phonons at grain boundaries, and thus improvements in ZT are still possible by disrupting these modes. This work demonstrates the important insights into phonon transport that can be obtained using ab-initio based Monte Carlo simulations in complex nanostructured materials.

Effect of Nanocavities on the Thermoelectric Properties of Polycrystalline Silicon

2011 ◽  
Vol 1329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Selezneva ◽  
Andrea Arcari ◽  
Gilles Pernot ◽  
Elisabetta Romano ◽  
Gianfranco Cerofolini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Seebeck Coefficient ◽  
Thermoelectric Properties ◽  
Polycrystalline Silicon ◽  
Figure Of Merit ◽  
Annealing Temperature ◽  
Silicon Films ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Polycrystalline Silicon Films

ABSTRACTNanostructuring has opened new ways to increase the thermoelectric performance of a host of materials, mainly by decreasing their thermal conductivity κ while preserving the Seebeck coefficient S and electrical conductivity σ. The thermoelectric properties of degenerated polycrystalline silicon films with nanocavities (NCs) have been studied as a function of annealing temperature upon isochronous annealings in argon carried out every 50°C in the range 500 – 1000°C which were used to modify the shape of the NCs. We found that presence of the NCs had no negative effect on the electronic properties of the system. The measured values of S and σ were close to those previously reported for the blank polycrystalline silicon films with the same doping level. The thermal conductivity was also found to be close to the value measured on the blank sample, about half of the reported value in polycrystals. This led to a power factor of 15.2 mWm-1K-2 and a figure of merit of 0.18 at 300 K.

Spectral Detail of Phonon Conduction and Scattering in Graphene

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhruv Singh ◽  
Jayathi Y. Murthy ◽  
Timothy S. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Phonon Scattering ◽  
Interatomic Potential ◽  
Phonon Dispersion ◽  
Transition Probabilities ◽  
Transition Probability ◽  
Phonon Transport ◽  
Temperature Perturbation ◽  
Boltzmann Transport ◽  
Wide Range

This paper examines the thermodynamic and thermal transport properties of the 2D graphene lattice. The interatomic interactions are modeled using the Tersoff interatomic potential and are used to evaluate phonon dispersion curves, density of states and thermodynamic properties of graphene as functions of temperature. Perturbation theory is applied to calculate the transition probabilities for three-phonon scattering. The matrix elements of the perturbing Hamiltonian are calculated using the anharmonic interatomic force constants obtained from the interatomic potential as well. An algorithm to accurately quantify the contours of energy balance for three-phonon scattering events is presented and applied to calculate the net transition probability from a given phonon mode. Under the linear approximation, the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) is applied to compute the thermal conductivity of graphene, giving spectral and polarization-resolved information. Predictions of thermal conductivity for a wide range of parameters elucidate the behavior of diffusive phonon transport. The complete spectral detail of selection rules, important phonon scattering pathways, and phonon relaxation times in graphene are provided, contrasting graphene with other materials, along with implications for graphene electronics. We also highlight the specific scattering processes that are important in Raman spectroscopy based measurements of graphene thermal conductivity, and provide a plausible explanation for the observed dependence on laser spot size.

Effect of Sub-Continuum Energy Transport on Effective Thermal Conductivity in Nanoporous Silica (Aerogel)

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Smith ◽  
Cristina H. Amon
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Silica Aerogel ◽  
Energy Transport ◽  
Phonon Scattering ◽  
Amorphous Structure ◽  
Phonon Transport ◽  
Silica Matrix ◽  
Thin Layers ◽  
Nanoporous Silica ◽  
Macro Scale

This paper analyzes the effect of Fourier vs. subcontinuum heat transport through thin layers of nanoporous silica (aerogel) in the framework of an infrared focal plane array (IRFPA) sensor system. Aerogel is introduced as a compatible material for emerging microsystems applications and the comparison between aerogel and conventional insulation systems is analyzed. Correlations between aerogel’s macro-scale thermal properties and its nano-scale structure are discussed to address the effect of the material’s amorphous structure and sub-continuum phonon transport phenomena on macro-scale thermal conductivity. Simulations using the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) quantify the effect of phonon scattering on silica conductivity. Techniques for extending the analysis to a three-dimensional silica matrix are discussed in light of recent advances in the simulation of aerogel morphology.

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