Violation of Fourier's law in homogeneous systems

Abstract: Hotspot is a ubiquitous phenomenon in microdevices/chips. In homogeneous nanoscale graphene disk with a hotspot, a graded thermal conductivity is observed previously even when the system size is fixed. However, the underlying physical mechanism is not clear. In this work, the hotspots in homogeneous 2D disk/3D ball and graphene disk are studied based on phonon Boltzmann transport equation. The mechanisms of phonon scattering are analyzed. It is found that for a system with fixed size, the graded thermal conductivity is predictable as long as there is not sufficient phonon scattering, which is independent on material properties, dimensions or system size. This work may shed light on both theoretical and experimental studies on heat dissipation of microelectronics.