Superior lattice thermal conductance of single-layer borophene

Abstract

By way of the non-equilibrium Green’s function simulations and first-principles calculations, we report that borophene, a single layer of boron atoms that was fabricated recently, possesses an extraordinarily high lattice thermal conductance in the ballistic transport regime, which even exceeds graphene. In addition to the obvious reasons of light mass and strong bonding of boron atoms, the superior thermal conductance is mainly rooted in its strong structural anisotropy and unusual phonon transmission. For low-frequency phonons, the phonon transmission within borophene is nearly isotropic, similar to that of graphene. For high-frequency phonons, however, the transmission is one-dimensional, that is, all the phonons travel in one direction, giving rise to its ultra-high thermal conductance. The present study suggests that borophene is promising for applications in efficient heat dissipation and thermal management, and also an ideal material for revealing fundamentals of dimensionality effect on phonon transport in ballistic regime. © 2017, The Author(s).