Thermal Wave in Phonon Hydrodynamic Regime by Phonon Monte Carlo Simulations

ABSTRACT Thermal wave, namely wavelike behavior of heat propagation in transient heat conduction, enjoys much attention due to the recent investigations into phonon hydrodynamics in low-dimensional materials. In this paper, an improved phonon Monte Carlo (MC) simulation algorithm is developed based on the Callaway’s dual relaxation time approximation model, which can deal with the coupling of normal and resistance scattering processes. Via the method, more thermal wave evidences are observed from the microscopic view of phonons, including overshooting and diffraction. Furthermore, the ballistic and hydrodynamic thermal waves are deeply studied. Two kinds of dissipation are found to exist in thermal waves, namely spatial dissipation and resistance dissipation. The former keeps the conservation of phonon momentum, but it lengthens the wavelength and decreases the peak temperature. The latter destroys the phonon momentum and keeps the original profile, lowering the peak temperature. Finally, phonon transport phenomena in Ziman hydrodynamic regime and diffusive regime are investigated, by introducing the scattering probability. The propagation tendency of thermal energy is found to decrease with the increasing scattering probability. The investigations into phonon hydrodynamics help to understand the heat transport characteristics and improve thermal management in low-dimensional materials.