Enhancing Thermal Transport in Layered Nanomaterials

A comprehensive rational thermal material design paradigm requires the ability to reduce and enhance the thermal conductivities of nanomaterials. In contrast to the existing ability to reduce the thermal conductivity, methods that allow to enhance heat conduction are currently limited. Enhancing the nanoscale thermal conductivity could bring radical improvements in the performance of electronics, optoelectronics, and photovoltaic systems. Here, we show that enhanced thermal conductivities can be achieved in semiconductor nanostructures by rationally engineering phonon spectral coupling between materials. By embedding a germanium film between silicon layers, we show that its thermal conductivity can be increased by more than 100% at room temperature in contrast to a free standing thin-film. The injection of phonons from the cladding silicon layers creates the observed enhancement in thermal conductivity. We study the key factors underlying the phonon injection mechanism and find that the surface conditions and layer thicknesses play a determining role. The findings presented here will allow for the creation of nanomaterials with an increased thermal conductivity.