Phonon engineering in nanostructures: Controlling interfacial thermal resistance in multilayer-graphene/dielectric heterojunctions

Using calculations from first principles and the Landauer approach for phonon transport, we study the Kapitza resistance in selected multilayer graphene/dielectric heterojunctions (hexagonal BN and wurtzite SiC) and demonstrate (i) the resistance variability (similar to 50 - 700 x 10(-10) m(2)K/17) induced by vertical coupling, dimensionality, and atomistic structure of the system and (ii) the ability of understanding the intensity of the thermal transmittance in terms of the phonon distribution at the interface. Our results pave the way to the fundamental understanding of active phonon engineering by microscopic geometry design. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4752437]