Transient Monte Carlo simulation of phonon transport in silicon nanofilms with the local heat source

Abstract

Accurate prediction of junction temperature is crucial for the efficient thermal design of silicon nano-devices. In nano-scale semiconductor devices, significant ballistic effects occur due to the mean free path of phonons comparable to the heat source size and device scale. We employ a three-dimensional non-gray Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the transient heat conduction of silicon nanofilms with both single and multiple heat sources. The accuracy of the present method is first verified in the ballistic and diffusion limits. When a single local heat source is present, the width of the heat source has a significant impact on heat conduction in the domain. Notably, there is a substantial temperature jump at the boundary when the heat source width is 10 nm. With increasing heat source width, the boundary temperature jump weakens. Furthermore, we observe that the temperature excitation rate is independent of the heat source width, while the temperature influence range expands simultaneously with the increase in heat source width. Around 500 ps, the temperature and heat flux distribution in the domain stabilize. In the case of dual heat sources, the hot zone is broader than that of a single heat source, and the temperature of the hot spot decreases as the heat source spacing increases. However, the mean heat flux remains unaffected. Upon reaching a spacing of 200 nm between the heat sources, the peak temperature in the domain remains unchanged once a steady state is reached. These findings hold significant implications for the thermal design of silicon nano-devices with local heat sources.