Interface conductance modal analysis of lattice matched InGaAs/InP

K Gordiz and A Henry, APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, 108, 181606 (2016).

DOI: 10.1063/1.4948520

We studied the heat conduction at InGaAs/InP interfaces and found that the total value of interface conductance was quite high similar to 830 MW m(-2) K-1. The modal contributions to the thermal interface conductance (TIC) were then investigated to determine the mode responsible. Using the recently developed interface conductance modal analysis method, we showed that more than 70% of the TIC arises from extended modes in the system. The lattice dynamics calculations across the interface revealed that, unlike any other interfaces previously studied, the different classes of vibration around the interface of InGaAs/InP naturally segregate into distinct regions with respect to frequency. In addition, interestingly, the entire region of frequency overlap between the sides of the interface is occupied by extended modes, whereby the two materials vibrate together with a single frequency. We also mapped the correlations between modes, which showed that the contribution by extended modes to the TIC primarily arises from coupling to the modes that have the same frequencies of vibration (i.e., autocorrelations). Moreover, interfacial modes despite their low population still contribute more than 6% to interfacial thermal transport. The analysis sheds light on the nature of heat conduction by different classes of vibration that exist in interfacial systems, which has technological relevance to applications such as thermophotovoltaics and optoelectronics. Published by AIP Publishing.

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