Thermal transport in defective and disordered materials

With significant recent advancements in thermal sciences-such as the development of new theoretical and experimental techniques, and the discovery of new transport mechanisms-it is helpful to revisit the fundamentals of vibrational heat conduction to formulate an updated and informed physical understanding. The increasing maturity of simulation and modeling methods sparks the desire to leverage these techniques to rapidly improve and develop technology through digital engineering and multi-scale, electro-thermal models. With that vision in mind, this review attempts to build a holistic understanding of thermal transport by focusing on the often unaddressed relationships between subfields, which can be critical for multi-scale modeling approaches. For example, we outline the relationship between mode-specific (computational) and spectral (analytical) models. We relate thermal boundary resistance models based on perturbation approaches and classic transmissivity based models. We discuss the relationship between lattice dynamics and molecular dynamics approaches along with two-channel transport frameworks that have emerged recently and that connect crystal-like and amorphous-like heat conduction. Throughout, we discuss best practices for modeling experimental data and outline how these models can guide material-level and system-level design.

Automated summary

Recent advancements in thermal sciences have led to a reexamination of the fundamentals of vibrational heat conduction, with a focus on updating and refining the physical understanding with new theoretical and experimental techniques. The increasing maturity of simulation and modeling methods has sparked a desire to rapidly improve technology through digital engineering and multi-scale, electro-thermal models. This review aims to build a holistic understanding of thermal transport by exploring the often overlooked relationships between subfields critical for multi-scale modeling approaches.