Nanoscale confinement of phonon flow and heat transport
Beardo Ricol, Albert (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Física)
Chen, Weinan (Carnegie Mellon University. Department of Materials Science and Engineering)
McBennett, Brendan (University of Colorado. Department of Physics)
Sabet, Tara Karimzadeh (Carnegie Mellon University. Department of Materials Science and Engineering)
Nelson, Emma E. (University of Colorado. Department of Physics)
Culman, Theodore H. (University of Colorado. Department of Physics)
Kapteyn, Henry C. (University of Colorado. Department of Physics)
Knobloch, Joshua L. (University of Colorado. Department of Physics)
Murnane, Margaret M. (University of Colorado. Department of Physics)
Dabo, Ismaila (Carnegie Mellon University. Department of Materials Science and Engineering)

Date:	2025
Abstract:	Efficient thermal management is critical to device performance and reliability for energy conversion, nanoelectronics, and the development of quantum technologies. The commonly-used diffusive model of heat transport breaks down for confined nanoscale geometries, and advanced theories beyond diffusion are based on disparate assumptions that lead to conflicting predictions. Here, we outline and contrast the two predominant formulations of the Boltzmann equation for heat transport in semiconductors, namely, the ballistic and hydrodynamic models. We examine these methods in light of experiments and atomistic calculations of heat fluxes and temperature profiles in phononic systems with nanometer-sized features. We argue that reconciling the hydrodynamic and ballistic formulations is an outstanding necessity to develop a unifying theory of confinement effects on phonon flow, which will ultimately lead to optimal strategies for thermal management in nanodevices.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2021-122322NB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación TED2021-129612B-C22 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00644
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	npj Computational Materials, Vol. 11 (June 2025) , art. 172, ISSN 2057-3960

DOI: 10.1038/s41524-025-01593-7

Postprint 10 p, 1.9 MB

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