A lower bound to the thermal diffusivity of insulators

Behnia, Kamran; Kapitulnik, Aharon

doi:10.1088/1361-648x/ab2db6

Title: A lower bound to the thermal diffusivity of insulators

Journal Article · 10 July 2019 · Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648x/ab2db6 · OSTI ID:1576517

^[1]; Kapitulnik, Aharon ^[2]

PSL Research Univ., Paris (France); Univ. zu Köln, Koln (Germany)
Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)

It has been known for decades that thermal conductivity of insulating crystals becomes proportional to the inverse of temperature when the latter is comparable to, or higher than, the Debye temperature. This behavior has been understood as resulting from Umklapp scattering among phonons. We put under scrutiny the magnitude of the thermal diffusion constant in this regime and find that it does not fall below a threshold set by the square of sound velocity times the Planckian time (τ_p = h/k_BT). The conclusion, based on scrutinizing the ratio in cubic crystals with high thermal resistivity, appears to hold even in glasses where Umklapp events are not conceivable. Furthermore, explaining this boundary, reminiscent of a recently-noticed limit for charge transport in metals, is a challenge to theory.

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Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1576517

Journal Information:: Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter, Journal Name: Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter Journal Issue: 40 Vol. 31; ISSN 0953-8984

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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