Ballistic-Diffusive Heat-Conduction Equations

Gang Chen

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2297

Ballistic-Diffusive Heat-Conduction Equations

Gang Chen

Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2297 – Published 12 March 2001

Abstract

We present new heat-conduction equations, named ballistic-diffusive equations, which are derived from the Boltzmann equation. We show that the new equations are a better approximation than the Fourier law and the Cattaneo equation for heat conduction at the scales when the device characteristic length, such as film thickness, is comparable to the heat-carrier mean free path and/or the characteristic time, such as laser-pulse width, is comparable to the heat-carrier relaxation time.

Received 11 September 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2297

Authors & Affiliations

Gang Chen

Nanoscale Heat Transfer and Thermoelectics Laboratory, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1597