Thin is cool: layered semiconductors with excellent heat dissipation properties

heat dissipation properties of layered semiconductors

A new study reveals the thermal transport properties of ultrathin crystals (made of just one or a few layers) of molybdenum diselenide, a two-dimensional material of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) family. TMD materials outperform silicon, which in comparison is much less efficient in terms of thermal transport at (sub)nanometer thicknesses. That means TMD materials prove to be outstanding candidates for electronic and optoelectronic applications, in which ultrathin materials are required, for example in flexible and wearable devices and very small electronic components. The international research team, including Zeila Zanolli at Utrecht University, is publishing the results today in Advanced Materials.

Research leader Klaas-Jan Tielrooij at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) comments: “Our work shows that TMD crystals with (sub)nanometer thickness have the potential to outperform silicon films both in terms of electrical and thermal conductivity in this ultrathin limit”. These results thus demonstrate the excellent prospects of TMDs for applications that require thicknesses on the order of a few nanometers or less, for example in the case of flexible and wearable devices and nanoscale electronic components. “Of course it remains to be seen if TMDs will live up to their promises”, concludes Tielrooij, “as there are many hurdles to overcome before these materials will be applied on an industrial scale. At least we now know that their thermal properties are – in principle – not a show-stopper.”

Read more in the ICN2 press release

Publication

Unraveling Heat Transport and Dissipation in Suspended MoSe2 from Bulk to Monolayer
David Saleta Reig, Sebin Varghese, Roberta Farris, Alexander Block, Jake D. Mehew, Olle Hellman, Paweł Woźniak, Marianna Sledzinska, Alexandros El Sachat, Emigdio Chávez-Ángel, Sergio O. Valenzuela, Niek F. van Hulst, Pablo Ordejón, Zeila Zanolli, Clivia M. Sotomayor Torres, Matthieu J. Verstraete, Klaas-Jan Tielrooij
Advanced Materials, 31 January 2022, DOI: 10.1002/adma.202108352