Abnormal thermal boundary resistance of thin films with heat source

Abstract

Interfacial phonon transport through thin films with heat source exists widely in devices, such as electronics and thermoelectrics, yet the mechanism is still unclear. In this work, thin films made of bi-material pairs with heat sources are simulated by a developed Monte Carlo method, namely kinetic-type Monte Carlo method. The size effects of the thermal boundary resistance are found to be much different at different interfaces in double-layer and three-layer thin films when heat source is considered, even for a same material pair. Meanwhile they are much different from those with only the isothermal boundary considered. The strength of the heat souce is proved to have little impact on the thermal boundary resistance. The results show that the thermal boundary resistance depends strongly on the external temperature difference, the position of heat source, and the layout of materials. These findings and corresponding explanations unlock some of the physical mechanism for interfacial phonon transport with heat source. Moreover they are very valuable for optimization and design of nanodevices with the interface and heat source.