The Heat Conduction Renaissance

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in heat conduction physics driven by thermal management challenges, highlighting developments in phonon transport, engineered materials, phase transitions, and nanomaterials, emphasizing industry collaboration.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the recent renaissance in basic heat conduction research motivated by practical cooling challenges.

Findings

Advances in phonon transport and scattering in nanotransistors

Development of engineered high-conductivity composites

Discovery of unique transport properties in low-dimensional nanomaterials

Abstract

Some of the most exciting recent advancements in heat conduction physics have been motivated, enabled, or achieved by the thermal management community that ITherm serves so effectively. In this paper we highlight the resulting renaissance in basic heat conduction research, which is linked to cooling challenges from power transistors to portables. Examples include phonon transport and scattering in nanotransistors, engineered high-conductivity composites, modulated conductivity through phase transitions, as well as the surprising transport properties of low-dimensional (1D and 2D) nanomaterials. This work benefits strongly from decades of collaboration and leadership from the semiconductor industry.