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Title: Temperature-dependent thermal conductivity in silicon nanostructured materials studied by the Boltzmann transport equation

Abstract

Nanostructured materials show low thermal conductivity because of the additional scattering due to phonon-boundary interactions. As these interactions are highly sensitive to the mean free path (MFP) of phonons, MFP distributions in nanostructures can be dramatically distorted relative to bulk. Here we calculate the MFP distribution in periodic nanoporous Si for different temperatures, using the recently developed MFP-dependent Boltzmann transport equation. After analyzing the relative contribution of each phonon branch to thermal transport in nanoporous Si, we find that at room temperature optical phonons contribute 17 % to heat transport, compared to 5 % in bulk Si. Interestingly, we observe a constant thermal conductivity over the range 200 K < T < 300 K . Furthermore, we attribute this behavior to the ballistic transport of acoustic phonons with long intrinsic MFP and the temperature dependence of the heat capacity. Our findings, which are in qualitative agreement with the temperature trend of thermal conductivities measured in nanoporous Si-based systems, shed light on the origin of the reduction of thermal conductivity in nanostructured materials and demonstrate the necessity of multiscale heat transport engineering, in which the bulk material and geometry are optimized concurrently.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
  2. Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States)
  3. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  4. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1371447
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1234135
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577; DESC0001299
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review B
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 93; Journal Issue: 3; Related Information: S3TEC partners with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (lead); Boston College; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9950
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Citation Formats

Romano, Giuseppe, Esfarjani, Keivan, Strubbe, David A., Broido, David, and Kolpak, Alexie M. Temperature-dependent thermal conductivity in silicon nanostructured materials studied by the Boltzmann transport equation. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.93.035408.
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Romano, Giuseppe, Esfarjani, Keivan, Strubbe, David A., Broido, David, & Kolpak, Alexie M. Temperature-dependent thermal conductivity in silicon nanostructured materials studied by the Boltzmann transport equation. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.035408
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Romano, Giuseppe, Esfarjani, Keivan, Strubbe, David A., Broido, David, and Kolpak, Alexie M. Tue . "Temperature-dependent thermal conductivity in silicon nanostructured materials studied by the Boltzmann transport equation". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.035408. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1371447.
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@article{osti_1371447,
title = {Temperature-dependent thermal conductivity in silicon nanostructured materials studied by the Boltzmann transport equation},
author = {Romano, Giuseppe and Esfarjani, Keivan and Strubbe, David A. and Broido, David and Kolpak, Alexie M.},
abstractNote = {Nanostructured materials show low thermal conductivity because of the additional scattering due to phonon-boundary interactions. As these interactions are highly sensitive to the mean free path (MFP) of phonons, MFP distributions in nanostructures can be dramatically distorted relative to bulk. Here we calculate the MFP distribution in periodic nanoporous Si for different temperatures, using the recently developed MFP-dependent Boltzmann transport equation. After analyzing the relative contribution of each phonon branch to thermal transport in nanoporous Si, we find that at room temperature optical phonons contribute 17 % to heat transport, compared to 5 % in bulk Si. Interestingly, we observe a constant thermal conductivity over the range 200 K < T < 300 K . Furthermore, we attribute this behavior to the ballistic transport of acoustic phonons with long intrinsic MFP and the temperature dependence of the heat capacity. Our findings, which are in qualitative agreement with the temperature trend of thermal conductivities measured in nanoporous Si-based systems, shed light on the origin of the reduction of thermal conductivity in nanostructured materials and demonstrate the necessity of multiscale heat transport engineering, in which the bulk material and geometry are optimized concurrently.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.93.035408},
journal = {Physical Review B},
number = 3,
volume = 93,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Tue Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.035408
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Works referenced in this record:

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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Investigation of thermal conduction in symmetric and asymmetric nanoporous structures
    journal, December 2017

    • Yu, Ziqi; Ferrer-Argemi, Laia; Lee, Jaeho
    • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 122, Issue 24
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5006818

    Perspective on ab initio phonon thermal transport
    journal, August 2019

    • Lindsay, Lucas; Katre, Ankita; Cepellotti, Andrea
    • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 126, Issue 5
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5108651

    Phonon hydrodynamics in frequency-domain thermoreflectance experiments
    journal, February 2020

    First-principles dynamics of electrons and phonons*
    journal, November 2016

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