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Main Authors: Yang, Hongao, Yang, Yongtao, Liu, Yuanbin, Ding, Tao, Shen, Yang, Huang, Jiawei, Ma, Weigang, Fei, Linfeng, Wu, Zhenping, Csányi, Gábor, Cao, Bingyang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.15394
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author Yang, Hongao
Yang, Yongtao
Liu, Yuanbin
Ding, Tao
Shen, Yang
Huang, Jiawei
Ma, Weigang
Fei, Linfeng
Wu, Zhenping
Csányi, Gábor
Cao, Bingyang
author_facet Yang, Hongao
Yang, Yongtao
Liu, Yuanbin
Ding, Tao
Shen, Yang
Huang, Jiawei
Ma, Weigang
Fei, Linfeng
Wu, Zhenping
Csányi, Gábor
Cao, Bingyang
contents Thermal boundary conductance (TBC) at dissimilar interfaces imposes a fundamental limit on electronic device performance, yet predicting and understanding heat transport across realistic, disordered boundaries remains elusive. Here, we develop a computational framework that combines machine-learned interatomic potentials with lattice dynamics to address the long-standing problem of how interfacial structure, from disordered to atomically sharp, affects thermal transport in the technologically important $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$/4H-SiC heterostructure. By explicitly accounting for phonon wave-particle duality, we show that interfacial disorder introduces additional interfacial phonon modes that facilitate vibrational impedance matching between the two highly dissimilar crystals, yet it simultaneously disrupts interfacial phonon coherence and limits the potential heat-transport benefit. Our atomistic simulations further indicate that restoring atomic-scale order preserves coherence and yields markedly higher conductance. These insights motivate the controlled epitaxial growth of $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$/4H-SiC heterostructures with systematically tuned interfacial order. Experimental measurements validate our predictions, achieving a record-high TBC of 231 MW m$^{-2}$ K$^{-1}$ at atomically sharp junctions. Beyond the immediate implications for $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$-based power electronics, our results establish the preservation of interfacial phonon coherence as an effective strategy for mitigating thermal bottlenecks in mismatched systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_15394
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Atomic-scale order enables high thermal boundary conductance at $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$/4H-SiC interfaces
Yang, Hongao
Yang, Yongtao
Liu, Yuanbin
Ding, Tao
Shen, Yang
Huang, Jiawei
Ma, Weigang
Fei, Linfeng
Wu, Zhenping
Csányi, Gábor
Cao, Bingyang
Materials Science
Applied Physics
Thermal boundary conductance (TBC) at dissimilar interfaces imposes a fundamental limit on electronic device performance, yet predicting and understanding heat transport across realistic, disordered boundaries remains elusive. Here, we develop a computational framework that combines machine-learned interatomic potentials with lattice dynamics to address the long-standing problem of how interfacial structure, from disordered to atomically sharp, affects thermal transport in the technologically important $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$/4H-SiC heterostructure. By explicitly accounting for phonon wave-particle duality, we show that interfacial disorder introduces additional interfacial phonon modes that facilitate vibrational impedance matching between the two highly dissimilar crystals, yet it simultaneously disrupts interfacial phonon coherence and limits the potential heat-transport benefit. Our atomistic simulations further indicate that restoring atomic-scale order preserves coherence and yields markedly higher conductance. These insights motivate the controlled epitaxial growth of $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$/4H-SiC heterostructures with systematically tuned interfacial order. Experimental measurements validate our predictions, achieving a record-high TBC of 231 MW m$^{-2}$ K$^{-1}$ at atomically sharp junctions. Beyond the immediate implications for $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$-based power electronics, our results establish the preservation of interfacial phonon coherence as an effective strategy for mitigating thermal bottlenecks in mismatched systems.
title Atomic-scale order enables high thermal boundary conductance at $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$/4H-SiC interfaces
topic Materials Science
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.15394