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Title: Thermal Conductivity Spectroscopy Technique to Measure Phonon Mean Free Paths

Abstract

Size effects in heat conduction, which occur when phonon mean free paths (MFPs) are comparable to characteristic lengths, are being extensively explored in many nanoscale systems for energy applications. Knowledge of MFPs is essential to understanding size effects, yet MFPs are largely unknown for most materials. Here, we introduce the first experimental technique which can measure MFP distributions over a wide range of length scales and materials. Furthermore by using this technique, we measure the MFP distribution of silicon for the first time and obtain good agreement with first-principles calculations.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Boston Univ., Boston, MA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1386868
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1100641
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 107; Journal Issue: 9; Related Information: S3TEC partners with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (lead); Boston College; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION; solar (photovoltaic); solar (thermal); solid state lighting; phonons; thermal conductivity; thermoelectric; defects; mechanical behavior; charge transport; spin dynamics; materials and chemistry by design; optics; synthesis (novel materials); synthesis (self-assembly); synthesis (scalable processing)

Citation Formats

Minnich, A. J., Johnson, J. A., Schmidt, A. J., Esfarjani, K., Dresselhaus, M. S., Nelson, K. A., and Chen, G. Thermal Conductivity Spectroscopy Technique to Measure Phonon Mean Free Paths. United States: N. p., 2011. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.095901.
Minnich, A. J., Johnson, J. A., Schmidt, A. J., Esfarjani, K., Dresselhaus, M. S., Nelson, K. A., & Chen, G. Thermal Conductivity Spectroscopy Technique to Measure Phonon Mean Free Paths. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.095901
Minnich, A. J., Johnson, J. A., Schmidt, A. J., Esfarjani, K., Dresselhaus, M. S., Nelson, K. A., and Chen, G. 2011. "Thermal Conductivity Spectroscopy Technique to Measure Phonon Mean Free Paths". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.095901. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1386868.
@article{osti_1386868,
title = {Thermal Conductivity Spectroscopy Technique to Measure Phonon Mean Free Paths},
author = {Minnich, A. J. and Johnson, J. A. and Schmidt, A. J. and Esfarjani, K. and Dresselhaus, M. S. and Nelson, K. A. and Chen, G.},
abstractNote = {Size effects in heat conduction, which occur when phonon mean free paths (MFPs) are comparable to characteristic lengths, are being extensively explored in many nanoscale systems for energy applications. Knowledge of MFPs is essential to understanding size effects, yet MFPs are largely unknown for most materials. Here, we introduce the first experimental technique which can measure MFP distributions over a wide range of length scales and materials. Furthermore by using this technique, we measure the MFP distribution of silicon for the first time and obtain good agreement with first-principles calculations.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.095901},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1386868}, journal = {Physical Review Letters},
issn = {0031-9007},
number = 9,
volume = 107,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Aug 25 00:00:00 EDT 2011},
month = {Thu Aug 25 00:00:00 EDT 2011}
}

Journal Article:

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 397 works
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Figures / Tables:

FIG. 1 FIG. 1 : (color online). Experimental data (symbols) at $$T$$ = 90 K for pump beam diameters $$D$$ = 60 μm and D = 15 μm, along with the (a) amplitude and (b) phase fit to the data from a thermal model (solid lines) and 10% bounds on the fittedmore » thermal conductivity value (dashed lines). The thermal conductivities obtained from the fits are 630 and 480 W/mK, respectively, different from each other and both far from the accepted thermal conductivity of 1000 W/mK [19].« less

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