Field-Dependent Heat Dissipation of Carbon Nanotube Electric Currents

We study heat dissipation of a multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) device fabricated from two crossed nanotubes on a SiN_x substrate under the influence of a constant (DC) electric bias. By monitoring the temperature of the substrate, we observe negligible Joule heating within the nanotube lattice itself and instead heating occurs in the insulating substrate directly via a remote-scattering heating effect. Using finite element analysis, we estimate a remote heating parameter, β, as the ratio of the power dissipated directly in the substrate to the total power applied. The extracted parameters show two distinct bias ranges; a low bias regime where about 85% of the power is dissipated directly into the substrate and a high bias regime where β decreases, indicating the onset of traditional Joule heating within the nanotube. Analysis shows that this reduction is consistent with enhanced scattering of charge carriers by optical phonons within the nanotube. The results provide insights into heat dissipation mechanisms of Joule heated nanotube devices that are more complex than a simple heat dissipation mechanism dominated by acoustic phonons, which opens new possibilities for engineering nanoelectronics with improved thermal management.