Lattice thermal conductivity crossovers in semiconductor nanowires

For binary compound semiconductor nanowires, we find a striking relationship between the nanowire's thermal conductivity kappa(nwire), the bulk material's thermal conductivity kappa(bulk), and the mass ratio of the material's constituent atoms, r, as kappa(bulk)/kappa(nwire) (alpha) (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2004-12, Vol.93 (24), p.246106.1-246106.4, Article 246106
Main Authors: MINGO, N, BROIDO, D. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Exact sciences and technology
Nonelectronic thermal conduction and heat-pulse propagation in solids
thermal waves
Physics
Transport properties of condensed matter (nonelectronic)
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Summary:For binary compound semiconductor nanowires, we find a striking relationship between the nanowire's thermal conductivity kappa(nwire), the bulk material's thermal conductivity kappa(bulk), and the mass ratio of the material's constituent atoms, r, as kappa(bulk)/kappa(nwire) (alpha) (1+1/r)(-3/2). A significant consequence is the presence of crossovers in which a material with higher bulk thermal conductivity than the rest is no longer the best nanowire thermal conductor. We show that this behavior stems from a change in the dominant phonon scattering mechanism with decreasing nanowire size. The results have important implications for nanoscale heat dissipation, thermoelectricity, and thermal conductivity of nanocomposites.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.93.246106