Monte Carlo Study of Phonon Transport in Solid Thin Films Including Dispersion and Polarization

Abstract

The Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE) for phonons best describes the heat flow in solid nonmetallic thin films. The BTE, in its most general form, however, is difficult to solve analytically or even numerically using deterministic approaches. Past research has enabled its solution by neglecting important effects such as dispersion and interactions between the longitudinal and transverse polarizations of phonon propagation. In this article, a comprehensive Monte Carlo solution technique of the BTE is presented. The method accounts for dual polarizations of phonon propagation, and non-linear dispersion relationships. Scattering by various mechanisms is treated individually. Transition between the two polarization branches, and creation and destruction of phonons due to scattering is taken into account. The code has been verified and evaluated by close examination of its ability or failure to capture various regimes of phonon transport ranging from diffusive to the ballistic limit. Validation results show close agreement with experimental data for silicon thin films with and without doping. Simulation results show that above 100 K, transverse acoustic phonons are the primary carriers of energy in silicon.