Influence of electrical properties on thermal boundary conductance at metal/semiconductor interface

TL;DR

This study investigates how electrical properties, such as doping and electric current, influence thermal boundary conductance at metal/semiconductor interfaces, revealing that electrical modulation can significantly enhance heat transfer.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence that electrical effects like doping and current application can modulate thermal boundary conductance at metal/semiconductor interfaces.

Findings

Doping level affects thermal boundary conductance.

Applying current increases conductance by up to 40%.

Electric current shrinks the space charge area, enhancing heat transfer.

Abstract

Recent experimental investigations have demonstrated that doping a semiconductor is a route to increase the thermal boundary conductance at metal/semiconductor interfaces. In this work, the influence of the electrical properties on heat transfer across metal/doped semiconductor junctions is investigated. Specifically, thermal boundary conductance at the interfaces between p- and n-doped silicon and titanium is measured by employing frequency-domain photothermal radiometry under varying external conditions. The influence of the doping level of the semiconductor, the barrier height, and the space charge area is analyzed. In particular, a 40% increase in the interface thermal conductance with the application of a current at n-doped silicon/titanium interfaces is reported. The enhancement of the thermal boundary conductance is explained by the shrinking of the surface charga area induced by the electric current. This study opens the way to modulating interfacial heat transfer at metal/semiconductor interfaces through fine tuning of electrical effects.