Thermal conductivity and interfacial thermal resistance in the heterostructure of silicon/amorphous silicon dioxide: the strain and temperature effect

This article reports the thermal conduction properties of Si/a-SiO2 heterostructure with two different interfaces: weak and strong coupling strength through molecular dynamics simulation. The size and temperature dependencies on the interfacial thermal resistance of the weak coupling interface are larger than those of the strong coupling interface. The thermal conduction in Si/a-SiO2 shows strong anisotropy. The thermal conductivity, interfacial thermal resistance, and enhancement of the anisotropy can be modulated by changing the strains applied to the heterostructures. This work provides an optional way to design the silicon-based heterostructures considering heat insulation and heat dissipation.