Abstract The Boltzmann Transport equation (BTE) was solved numerically in cylindrical coordinates and in time domain to simulate a Frequency Domain Thermo-Reflectance (FDTR) experiment. First, a parallel phonon BTE solver that accounts for all phonon modes, frequencies, and polarizations was developed and tested. The solver employs the finite-volume method (FVM) for discretization of physical space, and the finite-angle method (FAM) for discretization of angular space. The solution was advanced in time using explicit time marching. The simulations were carried out in time domain and band-based parallelization of the BTE solver was implemented. The phase lag between the temperature averaged over the probed region of the transducer and the modulated laser pump signal was extracted for a pump laser modulation frequency ranging from 20–200 MHz. It was found that with the relaxation time scales used in the present study, the computed phase lag is underpredicted when compared to experimental data, especially at smaller modulation frequencies. The challenges in solving the BTE for such applications are highlighted.
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Anisotropic Fourier Heat Conduction and phonon Boltzmann transport equation based simulation of time domain thermo-reflectance experiments
The anisotropic Fourier Heat Conduction Equation (FHCE) and the multidimensional phonon Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE) were solved numerically in cylindrical coordinates and in time domain to simulate a Time Domain Thermo-Reflectance (TDTR) experimental silicon/aluminum substrate/transducer setup. The out-of-phase response of the probe laser was predicted at various beam offset distances for a pump laser pulse frequency of 80 MHz and modulation frequency of 10 MHz and compared against experimental measurements for a silicon substrate. The isotropic FHCE was also solved for comparison. Results show that the isotropic FHCE with bulk thermal conductivity of 145 W/m/K significantly underpredicts the out-of-phase temperature difference, particularly at smaller beam offsets. With an isotropic thermal conductivity of 105 W/m/K, the computed results match experimental data at smaller beam offsets well, but overpredicts the experimental data at larger beam offsets. An almost-perfect match is obtained by using an anisotropic thermal conductivity wherein the radial (in-plane) thermal conductivity is set to 85 W/m/K and the axial (through-plane) conductivity is set to 130 W/m/K. The multidimensional frequency and polarization dependent phonon BTE is next solved. The BTE results for the out-of-phase temperature difference match experimental observations well at small and intermediate beam offsets, but overpredicts the experimental data at larger beam offsets. FHCE results are fitted to the BTE predictions, and the extracted (best fit) thermal conductivity is found to be 110 W/m/K.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2003747
- PAR ID:
- 10525069
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
- Volume:
- 228
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 0017-9310
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 125698
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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