Thermal transport across symmetric and asymmetric solid-solid interfaces

Thermal transport across symmetric and asymmetric solid-solid interfaces is investigated by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. For symmetric interfaces, simulation results demonstrate that the thermal interface resistance is reduced greatly with the temperature increasing from 20 to 70 K. Besides, the introduction of an interlayer in the region of a highly mismatched interface is predicted to effectively decrease the thermal interface resistance due to the vibrational bridge role of the interlayer in connecting two vibrationally mismatched materials. As for the case of asymmetric interfaces, it is found that the capacity of thermal transport across an asymmetric interface is related to the effective interfacial area, namely the smaller cross-section area of component materials. In addition, effects of the transition angle at asymmetric interfaces on the thermal interface resistance are further studied when heat flows through interfaces from the side with larger cross-section area to the other. It is shown that a smoother transition is preferred for thermal transport through an asymmetric interface.