Corrigendum: Role of the electron-phonon coupling in tuning the thermal boundary conductance at metal-dielectric interfaces by inserting ultrathin metal interlayers (2021J. Phys.: Condens. Matter085702)

Some typographical errors were made in the original version of the manuscript associated with the value of the electron-phonon coupling constant for Ta, which are corrected here.

Chain-Length Dependence of Thermal Conductivity in 2D Alkylammonium Lead Iodide Single Crystals

In 2D organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite materials, layers of conducting inorganic material are separated by insulating organic spacers whose length and composition can be tuned. We report the heat capacity and cross-plane thermal conductivity of 2D alkylammonium lead iodide single crystals with increasing chain length, (C_nH_2n+1NH₃)₂PbI₄ (n = 4-7). The measured thermal conductivities are some of the lowest ever recorded for single crystals, with averages in the range k = 0.099-0.125 W/m K. Although a model based on independent interface resistances between adjacent layers predicts an increase in thermal conductivity with a chain length of more than 30%, experimentally we find that the thermal conductivity is nearly independent of chain length and possibly decreases. We hypothesize that phonons carry an appreciable portion of the heat across the interface coherently, rather than being limited by individual weak interfaces.

Ultralow Thermal Conductivity of Two-Dimensional Metal Halide Perovskites

We report on the thermal conductivities of two-dimensional metal halide perovskite films measured by time domain thermoreflectance. Depending on the molecular substructure of ammonium cations and owing to the weaker interactions in the layered structures, the thermal conductivities of our two-dimensional hybrid perovskites range from 0.10 to 0.19 W m^-1 K^-1, which is drastically lower than that of their three-dimensional counterparts. We use molecular dynamics simulations to show that the organic component induces a reduction of the stiffness and sound velocities along with giving rise to vibrational modes in the 5-15 THz range that are absent in the three-dimensional counterparts. By systematically studying eight different two-dimensional hybrid perovskites, we show that the thermal conductivities of our hybrid films do not depend on the thicknesses of the organic layers and instead are highly dependent on the relative orientation of the organic chains sandwiched between the inorganic constituents.

Enhancing the Thermal Conductance of Polymer and Sapphire Interface via Self-Assembled Monolayer

Interfacial thermal conductance (ITC) receives enormous consideration because of its significance in determining thermal performance of hybrid materials, such as polymer based nanocomposites. In this study, the ITC between sapphire and polystyrene (PS) was systematically investigated by time domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) method. Silane based self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with varying end groups, -NH2, -Cl, -SH and -H, were introduced into sapphire/PS interface, and their effects on ITC were investigated. The ITC was found to be enhanced up by a factor of 7 through functionalizing the sapphire surface with SAM, which ends with a chloride group (-Cl). The results show that the enhancement of the thermal transport across the SAM-functionalized interface comes from both strong covalent bonding between sapphire and silane-based SAM, and the high compatibility between the SAM and PS. Among the SAMs studied in this work, we found that the ITC almost linearly depends on solubility parameters, which could be the dominant factor influencing on the ITC compared with wettability and adhesion. The SAMs serve as an intermediate layer that bridges the sapphire and PS. Such a feature can be applied to ceramic-polymer immiscible interfaces by functionalizing the ceramic surface with molecules that are miscible with the polymer materials. This research provides guidance on the design of critical-heat transfer materials such as composites and nanofluids for thermal management.

Tuning the Interfacial Thermal Conductance between Polystyrene and Sapphire by Controlling the Interfacial Adhesion

In polymer-based electric microdevices, thermal transport across polymer/ceramic interface is essential for heat dissipation, which limits the improvement of the device performance and lifetime. In this work, four sets of polystyrene (PS) thin films/sapphire samples were prepared with different interface adhesion values, which was achieved by changing the rotation speeds in the spin-coating process. The interfacial thermal conductance (ITC) between the PS films and the sapphire were measured by time domain thermoreflectance method, and the interfacial adhesion between the PS films and the sapphire, as measured by a scratch tester, was found to increase with the rotation speed from 2000 to 8000 rpm. The ITC shows a similar dependence on the rotation speed, increasing up to a 3-fold from 7.0 ± 1.4 to 21.0 ± 4.2 MW/(m(2) K). This study demonstrates the role of spin-coating rotation speed in thermal transport across the polymer/ceramic interfaces, evoking a much simpler mechanical method for tuning this type of ITC. The findings of enhancement of the ITC of polymer/ceramic interface can shed some light on the thermal management and reliability of macro- and microelectronics, where polymeric and hybrid organic-inorganic nano films are employed.

Room-temperature voltage tunable phonon thermal conductivity via reconfigurable interfaces in ferroelectric thin films

Dynamic control of thermal transport in solid-state systems is a transformative capability with the promise to propel technologies including phononic logic, thermal management, and energy harvesting. A solid-state solution to rapidly manipulate phonons has escaped the scientific community. We demonstrate active and reversible tuning of thermal conductivity by manipulating the nanoscale ferroelastic domain structure of a Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3 film with applied electric fields. With subsecond response times, the room-temperature thermal conductivity was modulated by 11%.

Protein Thermal Conductivity Measured in the Solid State Reveals Anharmonic Interactions of Vibrations in a Fractal Structure

Energy processes and vibrations in biological macromolecules such as proteins ultimately dictate biological, chemical, and physical functions in living materials. These energetic vibrations in the ribbon-like motifs of proteins interact on self-similar structures and fractal-like objects over a range of length scales of the protein (a few angstroms to the size of the protein itself, a few nanometers). In fact, the fractal geometries of protein molecules create a complex network of vibrations; therefore, proteins represent an ideal material system to study the underlying mechanisms driving vibrational thermal transport in a dense, fractal network. However, experimental studies of thermal energy transport in proteins have been limited to dispersive protein suspensions, which limits the knowledge that can be extracted about how vibrational energy is transferred in a pure protein solid. We overcome this by synthesizing solid, water-insoluble protein films for thermal conductivity measurements via time-domain thermoreflectance. We measure the thermal conductivity of bovine serum albumin and myoglobin solid films over a range of temperatures from 77 to 296 K. These temperature trends indicate that anharmonic coupling of vibrations in the protein is contributing to thermal conductivity. This first-ever observation of anharmonic-like trends in the thermal conductivity of a fully dense protein forms the basis of validation of seminal theories of vibrational energy-transfer processes in fractal objects.