3x more efficient: Metallic material with highest thermal conductivity identified

Researchers at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering have identified theta-phase tantalum nitride (θ-TaN) as a metallic material with the highest thermal conductivity measured among metals, conducting heat nearly three times more efficiently than copper or silver. This discovery challenges previous assumptions about the limits of heat transport in metals, where copper has long been the standard with a thermal conductivity of about 400 W/m·K. The team experimentally realized single-crystalline θ-TaN, measuring a room-temperature thermal conductivity of approximately 1100 W/m·K. This exceptional performance is attributed to the material’s unique atomic structure—tantalum and nitrogen atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern—which leads to a distinctive phonon band structure that suppresses phonon-phonon scattering and exhibits weak electron-phonon coupling. The findings, published in the journal Science, have significant implications for thermal management in electronics, particularly as AI technologies and high-performance computing systems increasingly demand efficient heat dissipation to prevent overheating and maintain reliability. Currently