Thermal transport across wrinkles in few-layer graphene stacks

Abstract

Wrinkles significantly influence the physical properties of layered 2D materials, including graphene. In this work, we examined thermal transport across wrinkles in vertical assemblies of few-layer graphene crystallites using the Raman optothermal technique supported by finite-element analysis simulations. A high density of randomly oriented uniaxial wrinkles were frequently observed in the few-layer graphene stacks which were grown by chemical vapor deposition and transferred on Si/SiO₂ substrates. The thermal conductivity of unwrinkled regions was measured to be, κ ∼ 165 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹. Measurements at the wrinkle sites revealed local enhancement of thermal conductivity, with κ ∼ 225 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹. Furthermore, the total interface conductance of wrinkled regions decreased by more than an order of magnitude compared to that of the unwrinkled regions. The physical origin of these observations is discussed based on wrinkle mediated decoupling of the stacked crystallites and partial suspension of the film. Wrinkles are ubiquitous in layered 2D materials, and our work demonstrates their strong influence on thermal transport.