Frequency and Polarization Dependence of Thermal Coupling between Carbon Nanotubes and SiO2

We study heat dissipation from a (10,10) CNT to a SiO2 substrate using equilibrium and non-equilibrium classical molecular dynamics. The CNT-substrate thermal boundary conductance (TBC) is computed both from the relaxation time of the CNT-substrate temperature difference, and from the time autocorrelation function of the interfacial heat flux at equilibrium (Green-Kubo relation). The power spectrum of interfacial heat flux fluctuation and the time evolution of the internal CNT energy distribution suggest that: 1) thermal coupling is dominated by long wavelength phonons between 0-10 THz, 2) high frequency (40-57 THz) CNT phonon modes are strongly coupled to sub-40 THz CNT phonon modes, and 3) inelastic scattering between the CNT phonons and substrate phonons contributes to interfacial thermal transport. We also find that the low frequency longitudinal acoustic (LA) and twisting acoustic (TA) modes do not transfer energy to the substrate as efficiently as the low frequency transverse optical (TO) mode

Mobility and Saturation Velocity in Graphene on SiO2

We examine mobility and saturation velocity in graphene on SiO2 above room temperature (300-500 K) and at high fields (~1 V/um). Data are analyzed with practical models including gated carriers, thermal generation, "puddle" charge, and Joule heating. Both mobility and saturation velocity decrease with rising temperature above 300 K, and with rising carrier density above 2x10^12 cm^-2. Saturation velocity is >3x10^7 cm/s at low carrier density, and remains greater than in Si up to 1.2x10^13 cm^-2. Transport appears primarily limited by the SiO2 substrate, but results suggest intrinsic graphene saturation velocity could be more than twice that observed here

Effect of Grain Boundaries on Thermal Transport in Graphene

We investigate the influence of grain boundaries (GBs), line defects (LDs), and chirality on thermal transport in graphene using non-equilibrium Green's functions. At room temperature the ballistic thermal conductance is ~4.2 GW/m^2/K, and single GBs or LDs yield transmission from 50-80% of this value. LDs with carbon atom octagon defects have lower thermal transmission than GBs with pentagon and heptagon defects. We apply our findings to study the thermal conductivity of polycrystalline graphene for practical applications, and find that the type and size of GBs play an important role when grain sizes are smaller than a few hundred nanometers.Comment: accepted in Applied Physics Letters (2013

Electrical power dissipation in carbon nanotubes on single crystal quartz and amorphous SiO2

Heat dissipation in electrically biased semiconducting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on single crystal quartz and amorphous SiO2 is examined with temperature profiles obtained by spatially resolved Raman spectroscopy. Despite the differences in phonon velocities, thermal conductivity and van der Waals interactions with CNTs, on average, heat dissipation into single crystal quartz and amorphous SiO2 is found to be similar. Large temperature gradients and local hot spots often observed underscore the complexity of CNT temperature profiles and may be accountable for the similarities observed

Imaging, simulation, and electrostatic control of power dissipation in graphene devices

We directly image hot spot formation in functioning mono- and bilayer graphene field effect transistors (GFETs) using infrared thermal microscopy. Correlating with an electrical-thermal transport model provides insight into carrier distributions, fields, and GFET power dissipation. The hot spot corresponds to the location of minimum charge density along the GFET; by changing the applied bias this can be shifted between electrodes or held in the middle of the channel in ambipolar transport. Interestingly, the hot spot shape bears the imprint of the density of states in mono- vs. bilayer graphene. More broadly, we find that thermal imaging combined with self-consistent simulation provides a non-invasive approach for more deeply examining transport and energy dissipation in nanoscale devices

Thermal Conductance of an Individual Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube above Room Temperature

The thermal properties of a suspended metallic single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) are extracted from its high-bias (I-V) electrical characteristics over the 300-800 K temperature range, achieved by Joule self-heating. The thermal conductance is approximately 2.4 nW/K and the thermal conductivity is nearly 3500 W/m/K at room temperature for a SWNT of length 2.6 um and diameter 1.7 nm. A subtle decrease in thermal conductivity steeper than 1/T is observed at the upper end of the temperature range, which is attributed to second order three-phonon scattering between two acoustic modes and one optical mode. We discuss sources of uncertainty and propose a simple analytical model for the SWNT thermal conductivity including length and temperature dependence.Comment: Nano Letters, vol. 6, no. 1, 200