Scientific Achievement
Users of the Molecular Foundry discovered a factor of two difference in thermal conductivity along the zigzag and armchair directions in few-layer black phosphorous (BP).
Significance and Impact
Such anisotropy could boost energy-efficient transistor and thermoelectric device design.
Research Details
- Using a microfabricated suspended device, thermal conductivity of BP nanoribbons was measured as a function of temperature and ribbon orientation and sizes
- The strong anisotropy was attributed mainly to phonon dispersion with some contribution from phonon-phonon scattering rate, both of which are orientation-dependent
- These orientation and size-dependent thermal conductivities open opportunities to design microelectronic devices with different lattice orientations for cooling & operating microchips