Thermal characteristics of reactive solid interfaces

Thermal characteristics of reactive solid interfaces play a key role in many nanoscale applications like micro-electronics. Previous work has shown that, from a microscopic view, interfaces between solids introduce extra resistivity, and as a consequence, there is a temperature jump over the interface. Therefore, it is important for numerous industrial applications, as well as for fundamental research, to study these interfacial characteristics. Unfortunately, it is extremely challenging to perform experimental measurements on these thermal characteristics, as they occur only in a few molecular layers around the interface. Accurate numerical models are therefore necessary to investigate solid interfaces in contact. In a previous study, that compared a macroscopic Phenomenological Theory (PT) and a reactive force field Molecular Dynamics model (ReaxFF), a reactive interface (Si-SiO2) was analyzed. A higher resistance was observed for a reactive interface than a non-reactive. This indicates that the resistivity of a nano-layered system can be tailored by the interfacial reactions between the layers. However, in order to perform this in a controlled manner, in-depth knowledge of the characteristics is necessary. Therefore, we extended our previous work with an investigation on the influence of the temperature, the transient behavior, and the width interface.