Molecular dynamics simulation of thermal conductivity of silicon thin film

Abstract

We computed the thermal conductivity of silicon single crystal thin film with a thickness of 25 nm-134 nm at room temperature by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. The thermal conductivity was shown to depend on the thickness of the film, and is markedly lower than that in bulk silicon. The phonon classical thermal conductivity theory, incorporating the Boltzmann transport equation, was used to establish a phonon scattering model for size dependence. The results show that boundary scattering is very strong for phonon transport in silicon thin film. © 2007 The Japan Institute of Metals.