Molecular and Monte Carlo simulations of thermal transport in AFM based data storage

Abstract

Thermal-assisted atomic force microscope (AFM) based data storage is an attractive potential solution to supersede magnetic hard disks for more storage capacity. This research work focuses on analysis of heat transfer in the AFM-based data storage system by using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) and direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) methods. The present research has developed a new design and simulation platform for nanoscale heat transfer simulation. The thermal characteristics of silicon nanostructures were investigated using the NEMD method. The results show that the length of nanostructures has remarkable effects on their thermal conductivities k. The relationship equation between them was derived. However, the k is less sensitive to the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the heat flux than to the length.