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Interfacial thermal resistance has often been attributed to the mismatch of phonon spectra between two materials and resulting phonon-interface scattering. However, we use the solution of Peierls–Boltzmann transport equation to reveal a substantial nonequilibrium thermal resistance across the interfaces of Si and SiGe alloys at room temperature, despite their nearly identical phonon dispersion and negligible phonon-interface scattering. The Kapitza length of the Si–Si0.99Ge0.01 interface is approximately 600 nm of Si. This originates from the mismatch in phonon distribution between Si and SiGe alloys due to their distinct scattering rates. The mismatch is relaxed by phonon scattering over a region of 1 μm around the interface, corresponding to the upper bound of mean free path Λx of heat-carrying phonons. The relaxation process leads to the significant entropy generation and increased thermal resistance. Introducing a gradual variation in Ge concentration near the interface markedly reduces thermal resistance when implemented over the 1 μm period. Our finding demonstrates that the interfacial thermal resistance can be significant due to the nonequilibrium phonon distribution, even in the absence of phonon-interface scattering. In addition, among various phonon modes with a wide range of Λx, the relaxation of the nonequilibrium is predominantly governed by the phonons with long Λx. 

Fluorographene, a fluorinated graphene-derivative, is expected to feature both high thermal conductivity and electrical insulation simultaneously, making it an emerging material for thermal management in electronic devices. In this paper, we investigated the lattice thermal conductivity and phonon transport properties of monolayer fluorographene using first-principles calculation. The solution of the fully linearized phonon Boltzmann transport equation gives the lattice thermal conductivity of monolayer fluorographene as 145.2 W m−1 K−1 at 300 K, which is about 20 times smaller than that of monolayer graphene. We systematically compared the phonon transport properties of all phonon modes in graphene and fluorographene in terms of phonon polarization. The significantly reduced thermal conductivity of fluorographene can be attributed to the lowering of both the lifetime of the flexural acoustic phonons and the group velocities of all acoustic phonons. We concluded that the broken in-plane mirror symmetry and the weaker in-plane chemical bonds induced by fluorination led to the suppression of the lattice thermal conductivity of fluorographene. Finally, we investigated the anomalously large contribution of optical phonons to the thermal transport process in fluorographene, where the large group velocities of selected optical phonons were derived from the in-plane acoustic modes of graphene. Our work provides a new approach to studying the influence of chemical functionalization on the phonon structure and exploring graphene-derived thermal management materials. 

A shape memory polymer (SMP) has been intensively researched in terms of its exceptional reversible dry adhesive characteristics and related smart adhesive applications over the last decade. However, its unique adhesive properties have rarely been taken into account for other potential applications, such as robotic pick-and-place, which might otherwise improve robotic manipulation and contribute to the related fields. This work explores the use of an SMP to design an adhesive gripper that picks and places a target solid object employing the reversible dry adhesion of an SMP. The numerical and experimental results reveal that an ideal compositional and topological SMP adhesive design can significantly improve its adhesion strength and reversibility, leading to a strong grip force and a minimal release force. Next, a radially averaged power spectrum density (RAPSD) analysis proves that active heating and cooling with a thermoelectric Peltier module (TEC) substantially enhances the conformal adhesive contact of an SMP. Based on these findings, an adhesive gripper is designed, fabricated, and tested. Remarkably, the SMP adhesive gripper interacts not only with flat and smooth dry surfaces, but also moderately rough and even wet surfaces for pick-and-place, showing high adhesion strength (>2 standard atmospheres) which is comparable to or exceeds those of other single-surface contact grippers, such as vacuum, electromagnetic, electroadhesion, and gecko grippers. Lastly, the versatility and utility of the SMP adhesive gripper are highlighted through diverse pick-and-place demonstrations. Associated studies on physical mechanisms, SMP adhesive mechanics, and thermal conditions are also presented. 

Abstract Double‐sided microfabrication process on an ultra‐thin silicon film has rarely been attempted due to the challenges in terms of the preparation and handling of a thin film in spite of its promising fabrication potentials. Such a process allows for doubling the thin film device density or providing dual functionalities for a thin film depending on whether the front and back sides of a thin film are processed identically or distinctively. Here, a novel double‐sided thin film processing strategy is introduced by realizing a dual coil patterned ultra‐thin silicon film that is working as an actuating or energy harvesting system. Experimentally, a dual coil patterned thin film enabled using the introduced approach shows remarkably enhanced device performance when compared with a single coil patterned counterpart. Furthermore, a multiphysics simulation model is developed and the resultant modeling data validate the experimentally measured performance enhancement. Finally, the structural durability of the thin film upon cyclic loading is tested and its diverse vibration modes are investigated.