Unraveling Thermal Transport Properties of MoTe2 Thin Films Using the Optothermal Raman Technique

Understanding phonon transport and thermal conductivity of layered materials is not only critical for thermal management and thermoelectric energy conversion but also essential for developing future optoelectronic devices. Optothermal Raman characterization has been a key method to identify the properties of layered materials, especially transition-metal dichalcogenides. This work investigates the thermal properties of suspended and supported MoTe2 thin films using the optothermal Raman technique. We also report the investigation of the interfacial thermal conductance between the MoTe2 crystal and the silicon substrate. To extract the thermal conductivity of the samples, temperature- and power-dependent measurements of the in-plane E2g1 and out-of-plane A1g optical phonon modes were performed. The results show remarkably low in-plane thermal conductivities at room temperature, at around 5.16 ± 0.24 W/m·K and 3.72 ± 0.26 W/m·K for the E2g1 and the A1g modes, respectively, for the 17 nm thick sample. These results provide valuable input for the design of electronic and thermal MoTe2-based devices where thermal management is vital.