Strain engineering of Kapitza resistance in few-layer graphene

We demonstrate through molecular dynamics simulations that the Kapitza resistance in few-layer graphene (FLG) can be controlled by applying mechanical strain. For unstrained FLG, the Kapitza resistance decreases with the increase of thickness and reaches an asymptotic value of 6 × 10(-10) m(2)K/W at a thickness about 16 nm. Uniaxial cross-plane strain is found to increase the Kapitza resistance in FLG monotonically, when the applied strain varies from compressive to tensile. Moreover, uniaxial strain couples the in-plane and out-of-plane strain/stress when the surface of FLG is buckled. We find that with a compressive cross-plane stress of 2 GPa, the Kapitza resistance is reduced by about 50%. On the other hand it is almost tripled with a tensile cross-plane stress of 1 GPa. Remarkably, compressive in-plane strain can either increase or reduce the Kapitza resistance, depending on the specific way it is applied. Our study suggests that graphene can be exploited for both heat dissipation and insulation through strain engineering.