Why high thermal conductivity matters
Increasing power density in AI hardware, power electronics, and advanced electronic packaging makes heat removal a critical constraint on performance, reliability, and energy efficiency. Addressing this challenge requires materials that conduct heat efficiently, together with interfaces and integration strategies that translate their intrinsic properties into effective device cooling.
The fundamental challenge
Heat conduction in solids is governed by how phonons and electrons carry energy and scatter. Discovering exceptional thermal conductors requires understanding these microscopic interactions while overcoming challenges in chemical synthesis, crystal quality, and defect control. Our research combines materials synthesis, precision measurements, spectroscopy, and first-principles theory to uncover transport mechanisms and develop materials with ultrahigh thermal conductivity.
From materials discovery to semiconductor cooling
Our group pioneered the chemical synthesis of high-quality cubic boron arsenide single crystals and experimentally demonstrated approximately 1300 W/(m·K) at room temperature [Science 361, 575 (2018) · Download PDF]. Achieving high crystal quality and controlling defects were essential to revealing BAs’s exceptional thermal conductivity and confirming theoretical predictions.
We subsequently developed a database of its basic physical properties [Applied Physics Letters 115, 122103 (2019) · Download PDF], flexible BAs thermal interface materials [Nature Communications 12, 1284 (2021) · Download PDF], and BAs cooling substrates integrated with operating GaN devices [Nature Electronics 4, 416 (2021) · Download PDF]. These advances connect materials discovery with practical heat removal through interface engineering and heterogeneous integration.
Our work on metallic θ-phase tantalum nitride extended this effort beyond semiconductors, demonstrating approximately 1100 W/(m·K)—nearly three times that of copper [Science 391, 707 (2026) · Download PDF].
Explore: Boron arsenide · θ-TaN · Thermal interfaces · Heterogeneous integration with wide-bandgap GaN devices
Selected publications
- Metallic θ-phase tantalum nitride has a thermal conductivity triple that of copperScience 391, 707–711 (2026). Download PDF
- Advancing Thermal Management Technology for Power Semiconductors through Materials and Interface EngineeringAccounts of Materials Research 6, 563–576 (2025). Download PDF
- Wafer-Scale Bonded GaN-AlN with High Interface Thermal ConductanceApplied Physics Letters 125, 032104 (2024). Download PDF
- Integration of boron arsenide cooling substrates into gallium nitride devicesNature Electronics 4, 416–423 (2021). Download PDF
- Flexible thermal interface based on self-assembled boron arsenide for high-performance thermal managementNature Communications 12, 1284 (2021). Download PDF
- Emerging interface materials for electronics thermal management: experiments, modeling, and new opportunitiesJournal of Materials Chemistry C 8, 10568 (2020).
- Experimental observation of high thermal conductivity in boron arsenideScience 361, 575–578 (2018). Download PDF