Thermal conductivity enhancement by phonon inelastic scattering in <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Si</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mi>x</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </m

SiGe nanowires (NWs) exhibit significant potential for thermoelectric applications due to their tunable thermal transport properties. Through systematic investigation of ${\mathrm{Si}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ge}}_{x}$ ($x=1%\ensuremath{-}50%$), we reveal a dual role of inelastic scattering in thermal transport that depends critically on Ge concentration. At low Ge concentrations (e.g., 1%), inelastic scattering reduces thermal conductivity by 25% through conventional phonon mean free path reduction, consistent with classical phonon scattering theory. Surprisingly, at higher Ge concentrations (e.g., 50%), we observe an anomalous 61% enhancement in thermal conductivity for NWs of 543.1 nm in length by inelastic scattering. This counterintuitive behavior arises from the interplay between diffusive transport and Anderson localization. Detailed transmission and characteristic length analyses reveal that inelastic scattering partially disrupts the phase coherence of phonons, leading to an increase in localization length and a enhancement of thermal transport within specific frequency regions. These findings fundamentally advance our understanding of phonon transport in disordered nanostructures and provide guiding principles for the design of materials with tailored thermal properties in thermoelectric materials and nanoscale devices.

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Journal
Physical review. B./Physical review. B
Published
2025-11-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/jr1j-djfx
Primary Topic
Thermal properties of materials
Type
article
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article

Thermal conductivity enhancement by phonon inelastic scattering in <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Si</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mi>x</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </m

Masahiro Nomura, Hong-Liang Yi, Yangyu Guo, Shiyun Xiong et al.
Physical review. B./Physical review. B
Thermal properties of materials
article

Thermal conductivity enhancement by phonon inelastic scattering in <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Si</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mi>x</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </m

Masahiro Nomura, Hong-Liang Yi, Yangyu Guo, Shiyun Xiong, Wei Zhang, Sebastian Volz
article en

Abstract

SiGe nanowires (NWs) exhibit significant potential for thermoelectric applications due to their tunable thermal transport properties. Through systematic investigation of ${\mathrm{Si}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ge}}_{x}$ ($x=1%\ensuremath{-}50%$), we reveal a dual role of inelastic scattering in thermal transport that depends critically on Ge concentration. At low Ge concentrations (e.g., 1%), inelastic scattering reduces thermal conductivity by 25% through conventional phonon mean free path reduction, consistent with classical phonon scattering theory. Surprisingly, at higher Ge concentrations (e.g., 50%), we observe an anomalous 61% enhancement in thermal conductivity for NWs of 543.1 nm in length by inelastic scattering. This counterintuitive behavior arises from the interplay between diffusive transport and Anderson localization. Detailed transmission and characteristic length analyses reveal that inelastic scattering partially disrupts the phase coherence of phonons, leading to an increase in localization length and a enhancement of thermal transport within specific frequency regions. These findings fundamentally advance our understanding of phonon transport in disordered nanostructures and provide guiding principles for the design of materials with tailored thermal properties in thermoelectric materials and nanoscale devices.

Physical review. B./Physical review. BVol. 112(19)
Guangdong University of Technology (CN), Harbin Institute of Technology (CN), The University of Tokyo (JP)
Openalex Percentile: Top 73%
Thermal properties of materials
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