Heat Conduction across Monolayer and Few-Layer Graphenes

TL;DR

This study measures the thermal conductance of graphene interfaces with metal contacts, revealing that interface resistance significantly limits heat dissipation in graphene devices, especially at the nanoscale.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of thermal conductance across monolayer and few-layer graphene interfaces with metal contacts, highlighting the impact on device thermal management.

Findings

Thermal conductance G ~ 25 MW/m^2/K at room temperature

G is four times smaller than for Au/Ti/SiO2 interfaces

Heat conduction is mainly phonon-mediated across interfaces

Abstract

We report the thermal conductance G of Au/Ti/graphene/SiO2 interfaces (graphene layers 1 < n < 10) typical of graphene transistor contacts. We find G ~ 25 MW m-2 K-1 at room temperature, four times smaller than the thermal conductance of a Au/Ti/SiO2 interface, even when n = 1. We attribute this reduction to the thermal resistance of Au/Ti/graphene and graphene/SiO2 interfaces acting in series. The temperature dependence of G from 50 < T < 500 K also indicates that heat is predominantly carried by phonons through these interfaces. Our findings indicate that metal contacts can limit not only electrical transport, but also thermal dissipation from sub-micron graphene devices.