This research addresses fundamental questions about heat generation and conduction in electronic nanostructures through improved modeling, simulations, and measurements. Applications include nanotransistors at the leading edge of semiconductor research including ultra-thin SOI, strained SiGe, and CNT-based devices. The semiconductor community is reducing the dimensions of transistors and introducing novel device geometries. A major problem with existing simulations is that they do not account for the sub-continuum nature of heat conduction, nor for the severe departure from equilibrium within the phonon system that is carrying the heat.

Our research is providing coupled simulations of electron and phonon transport in semiconductor devices that account for ballistic conduction in both systems using a combined Monte Carlo / Boltzmann transport equation approach. We are also using molecular dynamics to extract optical phonon decay rates in silicon relevant for nanotransistors. We are investigating thermal phenomena in modern interconnect structures, where the increasing number of metal layers and higher current densities aggravate electromigration problems. Additional work in this area studies electron and phonon interactions in carbon nanotubes as well as the electrothermal design phenomena within phase change memory devices.

Journal Publications in this Research Area
(Stanford Group Members in Bold)
Full list of group publications

29.	Rowlette, J.A., and Goodson, K.E., 2008, "Fully-Coupled, Nonequilibrium, Electron-Phonon Transport in Nanometer-Scale Silicon FETs," IEEE Transactions on Electronic Devices, Vol. 55, pp. 220-232.
28.	Reifenberg, J.P., Kencke, D.L., and Goodson, K.E., 2008, "The Impact of Thermal Boundary Resistance in Phase-Change Memory Devices," IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 29, pp. 1112-1114
27.	Pop, E., Mann, D.A., Goodson, K.E., and Dai, H., 2007, "Electrical and Thermal Transport in Metallic Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes on Insulating Substrates," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 101, 093710-093720.
26.	Pop, E., Sinha, S., and Goodson, K.E., 2006, "Heat Generation and Transport in Nanometer Scale Transistors," Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 94, pp. 1587-1601.
25.	Sinha, S., Pop, E., Dutton R.W., and Goodson, K.E., 2006, "Non-Equilibrium Phonon Distributions in Sub-100 nm Silicon Transistors," ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 128, pp. 638-647.
24.	Sinha, S., and Goodson, K.E., 2006, "Thermal Conduction in Sub-100nm Transistors," Microelectronics Journal, Vol. 37, pp. 1148-1157.
23.	Sinha, S., Pop, E., Dutton R.W., and Goodson, K.E., 2006, "Non-Equilibrium Phonon Distributions in Sub-100 nm Silicon Transistors," ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 128, pp. 638-647.
22.	Pop, E., Mann, D., Wang, Q., Goodson, K.E., and Dai, H., 2006, "Thermal Conductance of an Individual Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube above Room Temperature," Nano Letters, Vol. 6, pp. 96-100.
21.	Pop, E., and Goodson, K.E., 2006, "Thermal Phenomena in Nanoscale Transistors," Journal of Electronic Packaging, Vol. 128, pp. 102-108.
20.	Pop, E., Mann, D., Wang, Q., Goodson, K.E., and Dai, H., 2006, "Thermal Conductance of an Individual Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube above Room Temperature," Nano Letters, Vol. 6, pp. 96-100.
19.	Im, S., Srivastava, N., Banerjee, K., and Goodson, K.E., 2005, "Scaling Analysis of Multilevel Interconnect Temperatures for High-Performance ICs," IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 52, pp. 2710-2719.
18.	Sinha S., and Goodson, K.E., 2005, "Review: Multiscale Thermal Modeling in Nanoelectronics," International Journal for Multiscale Computational Engineering, Vol. 3, pp. 107-133.
17.	Pop, E., Mann, D., Cao, J., Wang, Q., Goodson, K.E., and Dai, H., 2005, "Negative Differential Conductance and Hot Phonons in Suspended Nanotube Molecular Wires," Physical Review Letters, Vol. 95, pp. 155505-155509.
16.	Sinha, S., Shelling, P.K., Phillpot, S.R., Goodson, K.E., 2005, "Scattering of g-Process Longitudinal Phonons at Hotspots in Silicon," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 97, no.2, pp. 023702-1-023702-9.
15.	Pop, E., Dutton, R.W., and Goodson, K.E., 2005, "Monte Carlo simulation of Joule Heating in Bulk and Strained Silicon," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 86, pp. 082101-082103.
14.	Pop, E., Dutton, B., and Goodson, K.E., 2004, "Analytic Band Monte Carlo Model for Electron Transport Modeling in Si Including Acoustic and Optical Phonon Dispersion," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 96, no. 9, pp. 4998-5005.
13.	Cahill, D.G., Ford, W.K., Goodson, K.E., Mahan, G.D., Majumdar, A., Maris, H.J., Merlin, R., and Phillpot, S.R., 2003, "Nanoscale Thermal Transport," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 93, 793-818.
12.	Cahill, D., Goodson, K.E., and Majumdar, A., 2002, "Thermometry and Thermal Transport in Micro/Nanoscale Solid-State Devices and Structures," ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 124, No. 2, pp. 223-240.
11.	Sverdrup, P.G., Sinha, S., Uma, S., Asheghi, M., and Goodson, K.E., 2001, "Measurement of Ballistic Phonon Conduction Near Hotspots in Silicon," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 78, pp. 3331-3333.
10.	Sverdrup, P.G., Ju, Y.S., and Goodson, K.E., 2001, "Sub-Continuum Simulations of Heat Conduction in Silicon-on-Insulator Transistors," ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 123, pp. 30-37.
9.	Ju, Y.S., and Goodson, K.E., 1998, "Short-Time-Scale Thermal Mapping of Microdevices using a Scanning Thermoreflectance Technique," ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 120, pp. 306-313.
8.	Ju, Y.S., Kurabayashi, K., and Goodson, K.E., 1998, "Thermal Characterization of IC Interconnect Passivation using Joule Heating and Optical Thermometry," Microscale Thermophysical Engineering, Vol. 2, pp. 101-110.
7.	Ju, Y.S., and Goodson, K.E., 1997, "Thermal Mapping of Interconnects Subjected to Brief Electrical Stresses," IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 18, pp. 512-514.
6.	Ju, Y.S., Kading, O.W., Leung, Y.K., Wong, S.S., and Goodson, K. E., 1997, "Short-Timescale Thermal Mapping of Semiconductor Devices," IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 18, pp. 169-171.
5.	Leung, Y.-K., Paul, A.K., Goodson, K.E., Plummer, J.D., and Wong, S.S., 1997, "Heating Mechanisms of LDMOS and LIGBT in Ultrathin SOI," IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 18, pp. 414-416.
4.	Ju, Y.S., and Goodson, K.E., 1997, "Size Effect on the Thermal Conductivity of Silicon-on-Insulator Devices under Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Conditions," Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 2, Letters, Vol. 36, pp. L798-L800.
3.	Goodson, K.E., Flik, M.I., Su, L.T., and Antoniadis, D.A., 1995, "Prediction and Measurement of Temperature Fields in Silicon-on-Insulator Electronic Circuits," ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 117, pp. 574-581.
2.	Su, L.T., Chung, J.E., Antoniadis, D.A., Goodson, K.E., and Flik, M.I., 1994, "Measurement and Modeling of Self-Heating in SOI nMOSFETS," IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 41, pp. 69-75.
1.	Goodson, K.E., and Flik, M.I., 1992, "Effect of Microscale Thermal Conduction on the Packing Limit of Silicon-on-Insulator Electronic Devices," IEEE Transactions on Components, Hybrids, and Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 15, pp. 715-722.