Coupled electron--heat transport in nonuniform thin film semiconductor structures

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical model for coupled electron and heat transport in nonuniform semiconductor thin films, explaining how Joule heating can lead to thermal runaway and hot spots through phase transition-like instabilities.

Contribution

It introduces a modified optimum fluctuation method to analyze the conditions and mechanisms of thermal instabilities in semiconductor thin films.

Findings

Instabilities can manifest as phase transitions, nucleation, or spinodal decomposition.

The model predicts conditions for thermal runaway and hot spot formation.

The theory applies to modern electronic structures with nonuniform properties.

Abstract

A theory of transverse electron transport coupled with heat transfer in semiconductor thin films is developed conceptually modeling structures of modern electronics. The transverse currents generate Joule heat with positive feedback through thermally activated conductivity. This can lead to instability known as thermal runaway, or hot spot, or reversible thermal breakdown. A theory here is based on the optimum fluctuation method modified to describe saddle stationary points determining the rate of such instabilities and conditions under which they evolve. Depending on the material and system parameters, the instabilities appear in a manner of phase transitions, similar to either nucleation or spinodal decomposition.