Anomalous Low Thermal Conductivity of Atomically Thin InSe Probed by Scanning Thermal Microscopy

Buckley, David and Kudrynskyi, Zakhar and Balakrishnan, Nilanthy and Vincent, Tom and Mazumder, Debarati and Castanon, Eli and Kovalyuk, Zakhar and Kolosov, Oleg and Kazakova, Olga and Tzalenchuk, A. and Patane, Amalia (2021) Anomalous Low Thermal Conductivity of Atomically Thin InSe Probed by Scanning Thermal Microscopy. Advanced Functional Materials, 31 (11): 2008967. ISSN 1616-301X

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Abstract

The ability of a material to conduct heat influences many physical phenomena, ranging from thermal management in nanoscale devices to thermoelectrics. Van der Waals 2D materials offer a versatile platform to tailor heat transfer due to their high surface-to-volume ratio and mechanical flexibility. Here, the nanoscale thermal properties of 2D indium selenide (InSe) are studied by scanning thermal microscopy. The high electrical conductivity, broad-band optical absorption, and mechanical flexibility of 2D InSe are accompanied by an anomalous low thermal conductivity (κ). This can be smaller than that of low-κ dielectrics, such as silicon oxide, and it decreases with reducing the lateral size and/or thickness of InSe. The thermal response is probed in free-standing InSe layers as well as layers supported by a substrate, revealing the role of interfacial thermal resistance, phonon scattering, and strain. These thermal properties are critical for future emerging technologies, such as field-effect transistors that require efficient heat dissipation or thermoelectric energy conversion with low-κ, high electron mobility 2D materials, such as InSe.