High thermal conductivity of high-quality monolayer boron nitride and its thermal expansion

Qiran Cai, Declan Scullion, Wei Gan, Alexey Falin, Shunying Zhang, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Ying Chen, Elton J. G. Santos, Lu Hua Li

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Heat management has become more and more critical, especially in miniaturized modern devices, so the exploration of highly thermally conductive materials with electrical insulation is of great importance. Here, we report that high-quality one-atom-thin hexagonal boron nitride (BN) has a thermal conductivity (κ) of 751 W/mK at room temperature, the second largest κ per unit weight among all semiconductors and insulators. The κ of atomically thin BN decreases with increased thickness. Our molecular dynamic simulations accurately reproduce this trend, and the density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal the main scattering mechanism. The thermal expansion coefficients of monolayer to trilayer BN at 300 to 400 K are also experimentally measured for the first time. Owing to its wide bandgap, high thermal conductivity, outstanding strength, good flexibility, and excellent thermal and chemical stability, atomically thin BN is a strong candidate for heat dissipation applications, especially in the next generation of flexible electronic devices.
Original languageEnglish
JournalScience Advances
Volume5
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jun 2019

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'High thermal conductivity of high-quality monolayer boron nitride and its thermal expansion'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this