Eur. Phys. J. B (2013) 86: 234
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2013-40113-5

Regular Article

Carbon nanotubes as heat dissipaters in microelectronics

¹ Nano-Bio Spectroscopy group and European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility (ETSF), Departamento Física de Materiales, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Apdo. 1072, San Sebastián, Spain
² Center for Atomic-scale Materials Design (CAMD), Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark. Fysikvej 1, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

^a e-mail: ap1484@nyu.edu

Received: 8 February 2013
Received in final form: 15 March 2013
Published online: 29 May 2013

Abstract

We review our recent modelling work of carbon nanotubes as potential candidates for heat dissipation in microelectronics cooling. In the first part, we analyze the impact of nanotube defects on their thermal transport properties. In the second part, we investigate the loss of thermal properties of nanotubes in presence of an interface with various substances, including air and water. Comparison with previous works is established whenever is possible.