Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userThermal conductivity of crystalline AlN and the influence of atomic-scale defects
101
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Aluminum nitride (AlN) plays a key role in modern power electronics and deep-ultraviolet photonics, where an understanding of its thermal properties is essential. Here we measure the thermal conductivity of crystalline AlN by the 3${omega}$ method, finding it ranges from 674 ${pm}$ 56 W/m/K at 100 K to 186 ${pm}$ 7 W/m/K at 400 K, with a value of 237 ${pm}$ 6 W/m/K at room temperature. We compare these data with analytical models and first principles calculations, taking into account atomic-scale defects (O, Si, C impurities, and Al vacancies). We find Al vacancies play the greatest role in reducing thermal conductivity because of the largest mass-difference scattering. Modeling also reveals that 10% of heat conduction is contributed by phonons with long mean free paths, over ~7 ${mu}$m at room temperature, and 50% by phonons with MFPs over ~0.3 ${mu}$m. Consequently, the effective thermal conductivity of AlN is strongly reduced in sub-micron thin films or devices due to phonon-boundary scattering.
rate research
Read More
It is textbookly regarded that phonons, i.e., an energy quantum of propagating lattice waves, are the main heat carriers in perfect crystals. As a result, in many crystals, e.g., bulk silicon, the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity shows the classical 1/T relationship because of the dominant Umklapp phonon-phonon scattering in the systems. However, the thermal conductivity of many crystalline metal-organic frameworks is very low and shows no, a weakly negative and even a weakly positive temperature dependence (glass-like thermal conductivity). It has been in debate whether the thermal transport can be still described by phonons in metal-organic frameworks. Here, by studying two typical systems, i.e., crystal zeolitic imidazolate framework-4 (cZIF-4) and crystal zeolitic imidazolate framework-62 (c-ZIF62), we prove that the ultralow thermal conductivity in metal-organic frameworks is resulting from the strong phonon intrinsic structure scattering due to the large mass difference and the large cavity between Zn and N atoms. Our mean free path spectrum analysis shows that both propagating and non-propagating anharmonic vibrational modes exist in the systems, and contribute largely to the thermal conductivity. The corresponding weakly negative or positive temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity is stemming from the competition between the propagating and non-propagating anharmonic vibrational modes. Our study here provides a fundamental understanding of thermal transport in metal-organic frameworks and will guide the design of the thermal-related applications using metal-organic frameworks, e.g., inflammable gas storage, chemical catalysis, solar thermal conversion and so on.
Heterostructures consisting of alternating GaN/AlN epitaxial layers represent the building-blocks of state-of-the-art devices employed for active cooling and energy-saving lightning. Insights into the heat conduction of these structures are essential in the perspective of improving the heat management for prospective applications. Here, the cross-plane (perpendicular to the samples surface) thermal conductivity of GaN/AlN superlattices as a function of the layers thickness is established by employing the $3omega$-method. Moreover, the role of interdiffusion at the interfaces on the phonon scattering is taken into account in the modelling and data treatment. It is found, that the cross-plane thermal conductivity of the epitaxial heterostructures can be driven to values as low as 5.9 W/(m$cdot$K) comparable with those reported for amorphous films, thus opening wide perspectives for optimized heat management in III-nitride-based epitaxial multilayers.
AlN is an ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor which has been developed for applications including power electronics and optoelectronics. Thermal management of these applications is the key for stable device performance and allowing for long lifetimes. AlN, with its potentially high thermal conductivity, can play an important role serving as a dielectric layer, growth substrate, and heat spreader to improve device performance. However, the intrinsic high thermal conductivity of bulk AlN predicted by theoretical calculations has not been experimentally observed because of the difficulty in producing materials with low vacancy and impurity levels, and other associated defect complexes in AlN which can decrease the thermal conductivity. This work reports the growth of thick AlN layers by MOCVD with an air-pocketed AlN layer and the first experimental observation of intrinsic thermal conductivity from 130 K to 480 K that matches density-function-theory calculations for single crystal AlN, producing some of the highest values ever measured. Detailed material characterizations confirm the high quality of these AlN samples with one or two orders of magnitude lower impurity concentrations than seen in commercially available bulk AlN. Measurements of these commercially available bulk AlN substrates from 80 K to 480 K demonstrated a lower thermal conductivity, as expected. A theoretical thermal model is built to interpret the measured temperature dependent thermal conductivity. Our work demonstrates that it is possible to obtain theoretically high values of thermal conductivity in AlN and such films may impact the thermal management and reliability of future electronic and optoelectronics devices.
This work studies the influence of microstructures and crystalline defects on the superconductivity of MgB2, with the objective to improve its flux pinning. A MgB2 sample pellet that was hot isostatic pressed (HIPed) was found to have significantly increased critical current density (Jc) at high fields than its un-HIPed counterpart. The HIPed sample had a Jc of 10000 A/cm2 in 50000 Oe (5 T) at 5K. This was 20 times higher than that of the un-HIPed sample, and the same as the best Jc reported by other research groups. Microstructures observed in scanning and transmission electron microscopy indicate that the HIP process eliminated porosity present in the MgB2 pellet resulting in an improved intergrain connectivity. Such improvement in intergrain connectivity was believed to prevent the steep Jc drop with magnetic field H that occurred in the un-HIPed MgB2 pellet at H > 45000 Oe (4.5 T) and T = 5 K. The HIP process was also found to disperse the MgO that existed at the grain boundaries of the un-HIPed MgB2 pellet and to generate more dislocations in the HIPed the pellets. These dispersed MgO particles and dislocations improved flux pinning also at H<45000 Oe. The HIPing process was also found to lower the resistivity at room temperature.
The high breakdown current densities and resilience to scaling of the metallic transition metal trichalcogenides TaSe3 and ZrTe3 make them of interest for possible interconnect applications, and it motivates this study of their thermal conductivities and phonon properties. These crystals consist of planes of strongly bonded one-dimensional chains more weakly bonded to neighboring chains. Phonon dispersions and the thermal conductivity tensors are calculated using density functional theory combined with an iterative solution of the phonon Boltzmann transport equation. The phonon velocities and the thermal conductivities of TaSe3 are considerably more anisotropic than those of ZrTe3. The maximum LA velocity in ZrTe3 occurs in the cross-chain direction, and this is consistent with the strong cross-chain bonding that gives rise to large Fermi velocities in that direction. The thermal conductivities are similar to those of other metallic two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. At room temperature, a significant portion of the heat is carried by the optical modes. In the low frequency range, the phonon lifetimes and mean free paths in TaSe3 are considerably shorter than those in ZrTe3. The shorter lifetimes in TaSe3 are consistent with the presence of lower frequency optical branches and zone-folding features in the acoustic branches that arise due to the doubling of the TaSe3 unit cell within the plane.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
