Heat Transport Through a Solid-Liquid Interface System and its Thermal Rectification Phenomena by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Solid-liquid interfaces widely exist in microdevices, it is necessary to study the heat transfer mechanism through solid-liquid interfaces. We compose a sandwich structure of solid-liquid system. The liquid is argon and the solid has FCC structure with different atomic mass. Heat transfer and rectification are investigated by molecular dynamics method. The effect of wettability of liquid argon is found to be essential to heat transport at solid-liquid interfaces. Asymmetric mass distribution affects the heat flux through the system. Thermal rectification is produced when the atomic mass of virtual solid walls differs. The asymmetry of interfacial thermal resistances between liquid and solid is observed, as well as the thermal rectification when the depth of potential well of virtual solid walls change. The larger the asymmetry is, the more obvious the thermal rectification is.