Electric Field Control of Phonon Lifetimes and Thermal Conductivity in Relaxor-Based Ferroelectric

Upreti, Puspa; Rashadfar, Delaram; Sahul, Raffi; Abernathy, Douglas L.; Heremans, Joseph P.; Hermann, Raphaël P.; Manley, Michael E.

doi:10.1103/5d1z-wg4p

Title: Electric Field Control of Phonon Lifetimes and Thermal Conductivity in Relaxor-Based Ferroelectric

Journal Article · Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 UTC 2026 · PRX Energy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5d1z-wg4p · OSTI ID:3013496

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
Amphenol Corporation, MD (United States)

The demand for high energy efficiency drives intense interest in thermal-management technology. Phonons are a major contributor to heat transfer in solids and controlling them through external stimuli is a key challenge for thermal management due to their weak interactions with applied fields. We report significant changes in phonon transport with the application of an electric field over a broad temperature range in a relaxor-based ferroelectric using neutron-scattering and -transport measurements. Phonon lifetimes increase along the applied poling field and this results in a tripling of the thermal conductivity in that direction. We also observe a suppression of nanoscale antiferroelectric fluctuations along the poling direction and argue that this increases the phonon lifetimes. Our results highlight a promising yet underexplored route to realistic solid-state heat switching from electric-field-modified nanostructures altering the phonon lifetimes in disordered functional materials.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 3013496

Journal Information:: PRX Energy, Journal Name: PRX Energy Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 5; ISSN 2768-5608

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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