From heat dissipation bottlenecks to designable thermal functional units: interfacial heat transport in two-dimensional materials
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2D heterointerfaces can be formed as vertically stacked van der Waals interfaces or laterally stitched in-plane junctions. Their thermal behavior is determined by a sequence of linked processes. Interface formation through direct growth or transfer assembly defines the initial structure and quality of the boundary. Thermal metrology, including optical, electrical and mapping-based approaches, enables interfacial heat transport to be quantified. Microscopic mechanisms such as elastic transmission, inelastic scattering and interface-specific phonon modes govern how vibrational energy crosses or is redistributed at the interface. These mechanisms can be modified through intrinsic and external tuning strategies, including interface geometry, strain, twist and intercalation. When such tunability is connected to device operation, 2D heterointerfaces can move beyond passive heat dissipation toward thermal functionality, including rectification, switching and transistor-like heat-flow control. 2D: two-dimensional; TDTR: time-domain thermoreflectance.
view moreCredit: © Xing Zhang, et al. 2026. This is an Open Access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
As chips and electronic devices continue to evolve toward greater miniaturization and higher integration, heat generation becomes increasingly localized while heat dissipation becomes progressively more challenging. In heterostructures composed of two-dimensional (2D) materials, heat must often traverse atomically thin interfaces before being dissipated into the surrounding environment. Consequently, interfacial thermal transport has become a key factor governing device performance, operational stability, and long-term reliability.
Recently, researchers presented a comprehensive Perspective on interfacial thermal transport in 2D heterostructures, systematically reviewing recent advances in the field and outlining future research directions. The article establishes an integrated framework for understanding interfacial heat transport by examining interface formation, thermal transport characterization, phonon transport mechanisms, interface engineering strategies, and thermal functional devices.
The authors argue that interfaces in 2D heterostructures should no longer be regarded merely as unavoidable boundaries for heat flow, but rather as designable and tunable thermal functional units. The mode of interface formation directly determines the actual contact configuration, interlayer coupling, and ultimately the interfacial thermal conductance. Consequently, the interfacial structure established during material synthesis fundamentally determines the subsequent thermal transport behavior.
To elucidate how heat traverses atomically thin interfaces, the Perspective further reviews the principal experimental techniques for characterizing interfacial thermal transport, including Raman thermometry, time-domain and frequency-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR/FDTR), and electrical thermal measurements based on micro- and nanoscale device platforms. The authors compare the advantages and limitations of these techniques in terms of spatial resolution, structural applicability, and measurement accuracy.
The authors further point out that future advances in interfacial thermal metrology will require the integration of high-spatial-resolution and high-temporal-resolution measurements with in situ device characterization to accurately probe heat transport under realistic operating conditions. Regarding the underlying transport mechanisms, the article emphasizes that heat transfer across 2D heterointerfaces is fundamentally governed by phonon transmission across the interface, involving elastic transmission, inelastic scattering, and interface-specific localized phonon modes.
The Perspective also highlights that maximizing interfacial thermal conductance is not always the optimal objective. Instead, thermal transport should be tailored to the functional requirements of specific devices. By tuning parameters such as twist angle, strain, pressure, ion intercalation, defects, and interfacial chemical modification, interfacial heat flow can be actively manipulated to realize thermal rectification, thermal switches, thermal transistors, and other thermal functional devices, thereby providing new strategies for active thermal management.
Overall, two-dimensional heterostructures offer a unique platform for advancing interfacial thermal transport, enabling atomically thin interfaces to evolve from conventional heat dissipation bottlenecks into designable, measurable, and tunable thermal functional units. This paradigm shift is expected to underpin the development of next-generation electronic and thermal functional devices.
Journal
Thermo-X
Method of Research
Commentary/editorial
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Interfacial heat transport in two-dimensional heterostructures: From formation to functionality
Article Publication Date
23-Jun-2026
COI Statement
Xing Zhang is an Editorial Board Member, and Aoran Fan is a Youth Editorial Board Member of Thermo-X. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.
