Boltzmann Transport Equation for Thermal Transport in Electronic Materials and Devices

The Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) is fundamental to furthering our understanding of complex thermal transport physics, predicting thermal properties of novel materials, and modeling heat transfer in micro- and nanoscale electronic devices. In this chapter, we review the recent progress made in extending the scope and complexity of thermal transport processes that can be modeled with the BTE. We first derive the solution to the linearized phonon BTE, including three-phonon scattering, four-phonon scattering, phonon-boundary scattering, phonon-isotope scattering, and defect-induced phonon scattering. We then present applications demonstrating the effects that these different scattering terms can have on modeling thermal transport in electronic device materials. We review different BTE models and numerical methods developed to model phonon transport in microelectronic devices, including ballistic-diffusive effects, and highlight the application of these models for silicon, GaN, and Ga2O3 based electronic devices.