Reconstructing phonon mean-free-path contributions to thermal conductivity using nanoscale membranes

Knowledge of the mean-free-path distribution of heat-carrying phonons is key to understanding phonon-mediated thermal transport. We demonstrate that thermal conductivity measurements of thin membranes spanning a wide thickness range can be used to characterize how bulk thermal conductivity is distri...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Cuffe, John|||0000-0003-2915-5383, Eliason, Jeffrey Kristian, Maznev, Alex A., Collins, Kimberlee C.|||0000-0002-0061-0859, Johnson, Jeremiah A.|||0000-0001-5302-3247, Shchepetov, Andrey, Prunnila, Mika, Ahopelto, Jouni|||0000-0003-3372-6097, Sotomayor Torres, Clivia M.|||0000-0001-9986-2716, Chen, Gang, Nelson, Keith A.
Tipo de documento: artigo
Data de publicação:2015
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositório:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglês
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:204928
Acesso em linha:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/204928
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.91.245423
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Descrição
Resumo:Knowledge of the mean-free-path distribution of heat-carrying phonons is key to understanding phonon-mediated thermal transport. We demonstrate that thermal conductivity measurements of thin membranes spanning a wide thickness range can be used to characterize how bulk thermal conductivity is distributed over phonon mean free paths. A noncontact transient thermal grating technique was used to measure the thermal conductivity of suspended Si membranes ranging from 15-1500 nm in thickness. A decrease in the thermal conductivity from 74-13% of the bulk value is observed over this thickness range, which is attributed to diffuse phonon boundary scattering. Due to the well-defined relation between the membrane thickness and phonon mean-free-path suppression, combined with the range and accuracy of the measurements, we can reconstruct the bulk thermal conductivity accumulation vs. phonon mean free path, and compare with theoretical models.