Phonon transport governed by intrinsic scattering in short-period AlN/GaN superlattices

Baer, Bradly; Walker, D. Greg; Lindsay, Lucas

doi:10.1103/physrevb.109.104310

Phonon transport governed by intrinsic scattering in short-period AlN/GaN superlattices

Journal Article · Wed Mar 27 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Physical Review. B

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.109.104310· OSTI ID:2333809

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Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Here we employ density functional theory based phonon transport methods to provide a rigorous understanding of the nature of thermal transport in coherent short-period AlN/GaN superlattices (SLs), with period lengths up to three unit cells of each, and compare these with properties of their bulk constituents. Increasing the period length leads to phonon band folding with frequency gaps and thus smaller phonon velocities and more phonon scattering than in bulk, both of which reduce lattice thermal conductivity (κ). Contrary to expectations, we find that velocity variations among larger-period AlN/GaN SLs play only a minor role in cross-plane κ reductions, while variations in intrinsic phonon scattering are strongly correlated with their transport behaviors. This work provides insights into the microscopic behaviors of technologically relevant nanostructured materials, which are likely applicable to a wider range of SL systems and other nanostructures.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 2333809

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2473749

Journal Information:: Physical Review. B, Journal Name: Physical Review. B Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 109; ISSN 2469-9950

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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