Glass-like anomalies and unconventional thermoelectric transport in chimney ladder crystals

Nowotny chimney ladder crystals combine features of ordered crystals and amorphous solids, making them attractive thermoelectric materials because of their intrinsically low thermal conductivity. We investigate the intermetallic compound Ru2Sn3 and show that, despite its crystalline order, its heat capacity exhibits a boson-peak-like glassy anomaly at 8-14 K. Combining experiments with first-principles calculations and molecular dynamics simulations, we trace this behavior to low-energy optical phonons emerging from the chimney ladder structure. These modes strongly couple to acoustic phonons, producing hybridization and avoided crossings that reshape the vibrational spectrum and cause the hybridized acoustic branches to contribute directly to the anomaly. Thermoelectric measurements reveal additional glass-like signatures linked to these excitations, while the electrical resistivity displays an extended linear temperature dependence and an anomalously large quadratic contribution at low temperatures. A simple theoretical model based on electron scattering by overdamped phonons qualitatively accounts for these observations. The authors show that the hybridization of low-energy optical and acoustic phonons in the chimney ladder crystal Ru2Sn3 gives rise to glass-like thermodynamic and transport anomalies and anomalous thermoelectric behavior.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-07-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74895-z
Primary Topic
Thermal properties of materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Glass-like anomalies and unconventional thermoelectric transport in chimney ladder crystals

Hui Xing, Junfa Lin, Jiong Yang, Zhiying Zhao et al.
Nature Communications
Thermal properties of materials
article

Glass-like anomalies and unconventional thermoelectric transport in chimney ladder crystals

Hui Xing, Junfa Lin, Jiong Yang, Zhiying Zhao, Matteo Baggioli, Tian‐Long Xia, Xiaoxian Yan, F. M. Grosche, Jie Ma, Elen Duverger-Nédellec, Srinivas V. Mandyam, Xi Chen, Yasong Wu, Binru Zhao, Weicen Dong, Chunhao Su
article en

Abstract

Nowotny chimney ladder crystals combine features of ordered crystals and amorphous solids, making them attractive thermoelectric materials because of their intrinsically low thermal conductivity. We investigate the intermetallic compound Ru2Sn3 and show that, despite its crystalline order, its heat capacity exhibits a boson-peak-like glassy anomaly at 8-14 K. Combining experiments with first-principles calculations and molecular dynamics simulations, we trace this behavior to low-energy optical phonons emerging from the chimney ladder structure. These modes strongly couple to acoustic phonons, producing hybridization and avoided crossings that reshape the vibrational spectrum and cause the hybridized acoustic branches to contribute directly to the anomaly. Thermoelectric measurements reveal additional glass-like signatures linked to these excitations, while the electrical resistivity displays an extended linear temperature dependence and an anomalously large quadratic contribution at low temperatures. A simple theoretical model based on electron scattering by overdamped phonons qualitatively accounts for these observations. The authors show that the hybridization of low-energy optical and acoustic phonons in the chimney ladder crystal Ru2Sn3 gives rise to glass-like thermodynamic and transport anomalies and anomalous thermoelectric behavior.

Nature Communications
University of California, Riverside (US), Shanghai University (CN), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Université de Bordeaux (FR), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN), University of Cambridge (GB), Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter (CN), Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures (CN), Shanghai Research Institute of Materials (CN), Institute of Refrigeration (GB), Shanghai Jian Qiao University (CN), Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux (FR), Renmin University of China (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Renmin University of China, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Thermal properties of materials
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