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A lower bound to the thermal diffusivity of insulators
Abstract
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 B T). 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.
- Authors:
-
[1];
- PSL Research Univ., Paris (France); Univ. zu Köln, Koln (Germany)
- Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1576517
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 31; Journal Issue: 40; Journal ID: ISSN 0953-8984
- Publisher:
- IOP Publishing
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Citation Formats
Behnia, Kamran, and Kapitulnik, Aharon. A lower bound to the thermal diffusivity of insulators. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1088/1361-648x/ab2db6.
Behnia, Kamran, & Kapitulnik, Aharon. A lower bound to the thermal diffusivity of insulators. United States. doi:10.1088/1361-648x/ab2db6.
Behnia, Kamran, and Kapitulnik, Aharon. Thu .
"A lower bound to the thermal diffusivity of insulators". United States. doi:10.1088/1361-648x/ab2db6.
@article{osti_1576517,
title = {A lower bound to the thermal diffusivity of insulators},
author = {Behnia, Kamran and Kapitulnik, Aharon},
abstractNote = {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 (τp = h/kBT). 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.},
doi = {10.1088/1361-648x/ab2db6},
journal = {Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter},
number = 40,
volume = 31,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {7}
}
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