Unusual heat transfer dependence on boundary scattering in very long narrow conductors

Abstract

When modeling heat transfer in nanoribbons, an unusually sharp dependence of the heat flux, and, consequently, the thermal conductivity coefficient, on the degree of specularity of phonon reflection from the lateral boundaries was found. From numerical calculations, it followed that the addition of minimally diffuse scattering should lead to an abrupt increase in the thermal resistance of the conductor. Given the importance of selecting optimal thermal parameters in nanotechnology, this short paper provides an analysis of the found dependencies, discusses the physical reasons for this anomalous behavior, and draws conclusions about the importance of achieving the quality of the nanoconductor interface to create thermal contacts with a given or optimal thermal conductivity.