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Title: Phonon thermal transport outside of local equilibrium in nanowires via molecular dynamics

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4793530· OSTI ID:22105440
;  [1]
  1. School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 (United States)

We study thermal transport through Pt nanowires that bridge planar contacts as a function of wire length and vibrational frequency of the contacts. When phonons in the contacts have lower average frequencies than those in the wires thermal transport occurs under conditions away from local equilibrium with low-frequency phonons experiencing a higher thermal gradient than high-frequency ones. This results in a size-dependent increase in the effective thermal conductivity of the wire with decreasing vibrational frequencies of the contacts. The interfacial resistivity when heat flows from the wire to the contact is also size-dependent and has the same physical origin in the lack of full equilibration in short nanowires. We develop a model based on a 1D atomic chain that captures the salient physics of the MD results.

OSTI ID:
22105440
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 138, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2013 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English