title: Effect of thin film confined between two dissimilar solids on interfacial thermal resistance.
abstract: A non-equilibrium molecular dynamics model is developed to investigate how a thin film confined between two dissimilar solids affects the thermal transport across the material interface. For two highly dissimilar (phonon frequency mismatched) solids, it is found that the insertion of a thin film between them can greatly enhance thermal transport across the material interface by a factor of 2.3 if the thin film has one of the following characteristics: (1) a multi-atom-thick thin film of which the phonon density of states (DOS) bridges the two different phonon DOSs for the solid on each side of the thin film; (2) a single-atom-thick film which is weakly bonded to the solid on both sides of the thin film. The enhanced thermal transport in the single-atom-thick film case is found mainly due to the increased inelastic scattering of phonons by the atoms in the film. However, for solid-solid interfaces with a relatively small difference in the phonon DOS, it is found that the insertion of a thin film may decrease the thermal transport.
authors: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 400 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409, USA.
authors: Zhi
authors: Z
authors: Liang
authors: Hai-Lung
authors: HL
authors: Tsai
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004583:Electrons; D008422:Materials Testing; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017785:Photons; D013499:Surface Properties; D013814:Thermal Conductivity; D013816:Thermodynamics