Correlations Between the Kapitza Resistance and Wall Induced Structure at Quiescent Liquid/Solid Interfaces

Continuous miniaturization of electronic components for various space applications has led to high density chips prone to deleterious thermal runaway effects. Thermal extraction of enormous waste heat is therefore being replaced by liquid-based cooling strategies, although these too at ultimately limited by the Kapitza effect which induces a temperature jump at the interface between any dissimilar materials. In this work, we focus on quiescent liquid/solid interfaces and employ molecular dynamics simulations to elicit correlations between the Kapitza resistance and configurational aspects of stratified liquid atoms in the vicinity of the solid surface. Our results indicate that obvious measures, such as the liquid contact density at the wall, don't necessarily guarantee efficient thermal extraction. We will discuss insights obtained by varying the wall temperature and parameters controlling the liquid/solid intermolecular potential. These results, some intuitive and others not, yield useful correlations incorporating the collective response of atoms within the first liquid layer.