Samuel Graham

Bio: Samuel Graham is an academic researcher from Georgia Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Thermal conductivity & Thermal resistance. The author has an hindex of 48, co-authored 347 publications receiving 9774 citations. Previous affiliations of Samuel Graham include Merck & Co. & United States Military Academy.

Thermal characterization of GaN vertical p-i-n diodes

Abstract: In this study, pioneering research was performed on GaN p-i-n diodes for the first ever assessment of surface temperature distribution by incorporating the use of infrared (IR) thermography, thermoreflectance thermal imaging, Raman thermometry, and thermal simulations. Each technique was advanced in order to obtain self-consistent results with higher accuracy. A two-temperature emissivity calibration procedure was utilized for IR measurements to acquire a temperature map of the p-contact metallization. Higher spatial resolution thermoreflectance thermal imaging was performed with a diverse range of illumination wavelengths including 470 nm and 530 nm. To confirm the results of thermoreflectance, TiO2 thermal nanoprobes were deposited on the device surface which enabled Raman thermometry to be performed on the p-contact metallization. Coherence of the techniques was then validated through thermal modeling. The results suggest that IR thermography, when using the two-temperature emissivity correction procedure, gives reasonable results at high power dissipating conditions. Thermoreflectance and nanopowder assisted Raman thermometry are viable options for GaN vertical device temperature assessment. However, results from Raman thermometry possess relatively large uncertainties and thermoreflectance measurements require multiple illumination wavelengths to ensure the validity of the measured temperatures that are derived from the thermoreflectance calibration coefficient.

Characterization of Metallically Bonded Carbon Nanotube-Based Thermal Interface Materials Using a High Accuracy 1D Steady-State Technique

Abstract: The next generation of Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) are currently being developed to meet the increasing demands of high-powered semiconductor devices. In particular, a variety of nanostructured materials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), are interesting due to their ability to provide low resistance heat transport from device to spreader and compliance between materials with dissimilar coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs). As a result, nano-Thermal Interface Materials (nTIMs) have been conceived and studied in recent years, but few application-ready configurations have been produced and tested. Over the past year, we have undertaken major efforts to develop functional nTIMs based on short, vertically-aligned CNTs grown on both sides of a thin interposer foil and interfaced with substrate materials via metallic bonding. A high-precision 1-D steady-state test facility has been utilized to measure the performance of nTIM samples, and more importantly, to correlate performance to the controllable parameters. Nearly 200 samples have been tested utilizing myriad permutations of such parameters, contributing to a deeper understanding and optimization of CNT growth characteristics and application processing conditions. In addition, we have catalogued thermal resistance results from a variety of commercially-available, high-performance thermal pads and greases. In this paper, we describe our material structures and the parameters that have been investigated in their design. We report these nTIM thermal performance results, which include a best to-date thermal interface resistance measurement of 3.5 mm2 -K/W, independent of applied pressure. This value is significantly better than all commercial materials we tested and compares favorably with the best results reported for CNT-based nTIMs in an application-representative setting.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

The technical and broader societal impact of organic photovoltaics

Abstract: The need to develop alternative sources of energy has reached a critical level. Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) represent a next generation of solar cell technologies that will compete to be one of many viable solutions to this energy resource problem, with particular utility in low power consumption devices. To fully realize the technical and societal benefits of OPVs as an energy resource, research and development of the technical and performance status of OPVs is warranted along with a concomitant appreciation of the impact of policy and the environment.

Integrating boron arsenide into power devices

Abstract: Boron arsenide could be used as a high-thermal-conductivity cooling substrate in gallium nitride power devices.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Fast parallel algorithms for short-range molecular dynamics

Abstract: Three parallel algorithms for classical molecular dynamics are presented. The first assigns each processor a fixed subset of atoms; the second assigns each a fixed subset of inter-atomic forces to compute; the third assigns each a fixed spatial region. The algorithms are suitable for molecular dynamics models which can be difficult to parallelize efficiently—those with short-range forces where the neighbors of each atom change rapidly. They can be implemented on any distributed-memory parallel machine which allows for message-passing of data between independently executing processors. The algorithms are tested on a standard Lennard-Jones benchmark problem for system sizes ranging from 500 to 100,000,000 atoms on several parallel supercomputers--the nCUBE 2, Intel iPSC/860 and Paragon, and Cray T3D. Comparing the results to the fastest reported vectorized Cray Y-MP and C90 algorithm shows that the current generation of parallel machines is competitive with conventional vector supercomputers even for small problems. For large problems, the spatial algorithm achieves parallel efficiencies of 90% and a 1840-node Intel Paragon performs up to 165 faster than a single Cray C9O processor. Trade-offs between the three algorithms and guidelines for adapting them to more complex molecular dynamics simulations are also discussed.

Interface engineering of highly efficient perovskite solar cells

Abstract: Advancing perovskite solar cell technologies toward their theoretical power conversion efficiency (PCE) requires delicate control over the carrier dynamics throughout the entire device. By controlling the formation of the perovskite layer and careful choices of other materials, we suppressed carrier recombination in the absorber, facilitated carrier injection into the carrier transport layers, and maintained good carrier extraction at the electrodes. When measured via reverse bias scan, cell PCE is typically boosted to 16.6% on average, with the highest efficiency of ~19.3% in a planar geometry without antireflective coating. The fabrication of our perovskite solar cells was conducted in air and from solution at low temperatures, which should simplify manufacturing of large-area perovskite devices that are inexpensive and perform at high levels.

An electron acceptor challenging fullerenes for efficient polymer solar cells.

Abstract: A novel non-fullerene electron acceptor (ITIC) that overcomes some of the shortcomings of fullerene acceptors, for example, weak absorption in the visible spectral region and limited energy-level variability, is designed and synthesized. Fullerene-free polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on the ITIC acceptor are demonstrated to exhibit power conversion effi ciencies of up to 6.8%, a record for fullerene-free PSCs.