Ultrahigh thermal conductance between III-nitride semiconductor and diamond via interfacial atomic reordering

Ultrahigh thermal conductance between III-nitride semiconductor and diamond via interfacial atomic reordering | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Ultrahigh thermal conductance between III-nitride semiconductor and diamond via interfacial atomic reordering Xuelin Yang, Beile Chen, Nianjie Liang, Zifeng Huang, Hongcai Yang, and 15 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9119166/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Thermal management stands as a critical bottleneck in advancing next-generation high-power electronics implemented on III-nitride semiconductors. As the best thermal conductor, diamond offers unprecedented cooling potential via heterogeneous integration. In practice, however, the total thermal resistance remains unacceptably high due to disordered interfaces, which also obscures understanding of fundamental phonon transport mechanisms. Here, by employing a plasma-induced interfacial atomic reordering strategy, we achieve a sharp and ordered interface between aluminum nitride (AlN) and single-crystalline diamond, with substitutional nitrogen atoms (N_C). We demonstrate a record-high interfacial thermal conductance of ~880 MW·m-2K-1, approaching the maximum transmission limit (MTL). Atomically-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy and machine-learning molecular dynamics reveal that the low-energy phonon spectrum in diamond aligns well with acoustic phonons in AlN, dominating heat flow across the interface. Additionally, interfacial modes arising from N_C at the interface offer additional phonon pathways. Our findings highlight interfacial atomic reordering as a promising avenue for passively cooling future electronics. Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for optics Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for devices/Electronic devices Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Semiconductors Physical sciences/Materials science/Techniques and instrumentation/Microscopy/Transmission electron microscopy Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files AlNDiamondSupplementaryNN20260314.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9119166","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":619985106,"identity":"d3e596f8-38ed-4e04-9607-b1e984f8f5f7","order_by":0,"name":"Xuelin 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