The performance of many micro- and nanoscale devices depends on the ability to control interfacial thermal transport, which is predominantly mediated by phonons in semiconductor systems. The phonon transmissivity at an interface is therefore a quantity of interest. In this work, an empirical model, termed the thermal mismatch model, is developed to predict transmissivity at ideal interfaces between semiconductor materials, producing an excellent agreement with molecular dynamics simulations of wave packets. To investigate propagation through multilayered structures, this thermal mismatch model is then incorporated into a simulation scheme that represents wave packets as particles, showing a good agreement with a similar scheme that used molecular dynamics simulations as input [P. K. Schelling and S. R. Phillpot, J. Appl. Phys. 93, 5377 (2003)]. With these techniques validated for both single interfaces and superlattices, they are further used to identify ways to tune the transmissivity of multilayered structures. It is shown that by introducing intermediate layers of certain atomic masses, the total transmissivity can either be systematically enhanced or reduced compared to that of a single interface. Thus, this model can serve as a computationally inexpensive means of developing strategies to control phonon transmissivity in applications that may benefit from either enhancement (e.g., microelectronics) or reduction (e.g., thermoelectrics) in thermal transport.
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15 April 2012
Research Article|
April 20 2012
Strategies for tuning phonon transport in multilayered structures using a mismatch-based particle model
Nam Q. Le;
Nam Q. Le
a)
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
University of Virginia
, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
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John C. Duda;
John C. Duda
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
University of Virginia
, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
2
Sandia National Laboratories
, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA
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Timothy S. English;
Timothy S. English
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
University of Virginia
, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
2
Sandia National Laboratories
, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA
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Patrick E. Hopkins;
Patrick E. Hopkins
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
University of Virginia
, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
2
Sandia National Laboratories
, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA
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Thomas E. Beechem;
Thomas E. Beechem
2
Sandia National Laboratories
, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA
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Pamela M. Norris
Pamela M. Norris
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
University of Virginia
, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
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a)
Electronic mail: nql6u@virginia.edu.
J. Appl. Phys. 111, 084310 (2012)
Article history
Received:
October 10 2011
Accepted:
March 16 2012
Citation
Nam Q. Le, John C. Duda, Timothy S. English, Patrick E. Hopkins, Thomas E. Beechem, Pamela M. Norris; Strategies for tuning phonon transport in multilayered structures using a mismatch-based particle model. J. Appl. Phys. 15 April 2012; 111 (8): 084310. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4704681
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