Effect of Phonon Dispersion on Thermal Conduction Across Si/Ge Interfaces

We report finite volume simulations of the phonon Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) for heat conduction across the heterogeneous interfaces in SiGe superlattices. We employ the diffuse mismatch model with full details of phonon dispersion and polarization. Simulations are performed over a wide range of Knudsen numbers. Similar to previous studies we establish that thermal conductivity of a superlattice is much lower than the host materials for superlattice period in the submicron regime. Details of the non-equilibrium between optical and acoustic phonons that emerge due to the mismatch of phonon spectrum in silicon and germanium are delineated for the first time. Conditions are identified for which this can lead to a significant additional thermal resistance than that attributed primarily to boundary scattering of phonons. We report results for thermal conductivity for various volume fraction and superlattice periods.