Nonmetallic crystals with high thermal conductivity

Nonmetallic crystals transport heat primarily by phonons at room temperature and below. There are only a few nonmetallic crystals which can be classed as high thermal conductivity solids, in the sense of having a thermal conductivity of > 1 W/cmK at 300K. Thermal conductivity measurements on natural and synthetic diamond, cubic BN, BP and AIN confirm that all of them are high thermal conductivity solids. Studies have been made of the effect on the thermal conductivity of nitrogen impurities in diamond, and oxygen impurities in AIN. The nitrogen impurities scatter phonons mostly from the strain field, the oxygen impurities scatter phonons mostly from the mass defects caused by aluminum vacancies. Pure A1N as well as pure SiC, BeO, BP and BeS conduct heat almost as well as does copper at room temperature, while pure natural and synthetic diamonds conduct heat five times better than copper.All of the nonmetallic solids that are known to possess high thermal conductivity have either the diamond-like, boron carbide, or graphite crystal structure. There are twelve different diamond-like crystals, a few boron carbide-type crystals, and two graphite structure crystals that have high thermal conductivity. Analyses of the rock-salt, fluorite, quartz, corundum and other structures show no candidates for this class. The four rules for finding crystals with high thermal conductivity are that the crystal should have (1) low atomic mass, (2) strong bonding, (3) simple crystal structure, and (4) low anharmonicity. The prime example of such a solid is diamond, which has the highest known thermal conductivity at 300K.     

The applicability of the Debye model to thermal conductivity

The thermal conductivity of KBr crystals containing known concentrations of KNO₂ is studied at low temperatures. The conductivity of the doped crystals is greatly reduced and can be described with a simple relaxation time using the model of the thermal conductivity proposed byDebye. Crystals of KBr containing small concentrations of KI show a decrease in thermal conductivity very similar to that observed in mixed crystals with KCl as host lattice. This observation supports the model proposed byWagner that quasi localized modes act as phonon scatterers.     

Determination of thermal conductivity coefficient of crystals with the garnet structure at high temperatures

At high temperatures, the simple expression for thermal conductivity of crystals with the garnet structure is obtained, which allows one to determine this quantity if the lattice constant or density of these crystals is known. The thermal conductivity coefficients for the garnet crystals of different compositions calculated from the obtained formula are in a good agreement with the experimentally measured values.     

Normal phonon-phonon scattering processes and the thermal conductivity of germanium crystals with isotope disorder

The influence of the normal phonon-phonon scattering processes on the thermal conductivity was theoretically studied for germanium crystals with various degrees of the isotope disorder. The theory takes into account redistribution of the phonon momentum in the normal scattering processes both inside each oscillation branch (Simons mechanism) and between various phonon oscillation branches (Herring mechanism). Contributions to the thermal conductivity due to the drift mobility of the longitudinal and transverse phonons are analyzed. It is shown that the momentum redistribution between longitudinal and transverse phonons according to the Herring relaxation mechanism leads to a significant suppression of the drift motions (and to the corresponding drop in contribution to the thermal conductivity) of the longitudinal phonons in isotopically pure germanium crystals. The results of the thermal conductivity calculations involving the Herring relaxation mechanism agree well with the experimental data available for germanium crystals with various degrees of the isotope disorder.     

The effect of normal phonon-phonon scattering processes on the maximum thermal conductivity of isotopically pure silicon crystals

The effect of normal phonon-phonon scattering processes on the thermal conductivity of silicon crystals with various degrees of isotope disorder is considered. The redistribution of phonon momentum in normal scattering processes is taken into account within each oscillation branch (the Callaway generalized model), as well as between different oscillation branches of the phonon spectrum (the Herring mechanism). The values of the parameters are obtained that determine the phonon momentum relaxation in anharmonic scattering processes. The contributions of the drift motion of longitudinal and transverse phonons to the thermal conductivity are analyzed. It is shown that the momentum redistribution between longitudinal and transverse phonons in the Herring relaxation model represents an efficient mechanism that limits the maximum thermal conductivity in isotopically pure silicon crystals. The dependence of the maximum thermal conductivity on the degree of isotope disorder is calculated. The maximum thermal conductivity of isotopically pure silicon crystals is estimated for two variants of phonon momentum relaxation in normal phonon-phonon scattering processes.     

Effect of dispersion on the phonon focusing and anisotropy of thermal conductivity of silicon single crystals in the boundary scattering regime

The effect of dispersion on the focusing of thermal phonons and on the thermal conductivity of silicon single crystals in the boundary scattering regime has been investigated. Analysis of the spectra of acoustic modes obtained for silicon single crystals from inelastic neutron scattering data has demonstrated that, upon transition from long-wavelength phonons to short-wavelength phonons, the directions of their focusing change. With an increase in temperature, this leads to a change in the anisotropy of thermal conductivity of phonons with different polarizations and, consequently, to a change in the anisotropy of the total thermal conductivity. Analysis of the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity has revealed that the presence of extended flattened sections in the spectrum of short-wavelength transverse phonons indicates anomalously low values of the group velocity and, accordingly, a significant decrease in the contribution from these phonons to the thermal conductivity with increasing temperature. The contribution from longitudinal phonons to the thermal conductivity also significantly increases even at temperatures higher than 110 K and becomes dominant.     

Thermal expansion and thermal conductivity of single-crystal Cu<Subscript>x</Subscript>Ag<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>InS<Subscript>2</Subscript> solid solutions grown by the moving solvent method

Single crystals of Cu_xAg_1−x InS₂ solid solutions are grown by the moving solvent method. The compositions and structures of the single crystals are determined. The thermal expansion coefficients of these crystals are determined with a dilatometer. The thermal expansion coefficients are found to vary linearly with concentration x. The thermal conductivity of the crystals is measured by the absolute method, and the concentration dependence of the thermal conductivity is constructed. This dependence is shown to have a minimum near the equimolar composition.     

Single-crystalline InI—Material for infrared optics

The Bridgman–Stockbarger method is used for growing InI single crystals. The crystals are characterized by a perfect cleavage along (0k0). The long-wave IR transmission boundary amounts to 51 µm. For the first time, the thermal capacity and thermal conductivity are measured in the intervals of 80–300 and 50–300 K, respectively. The crystals have a high thermal capacity and a low thermal conductivity (C = 52.7 J/(mol K) and k = 0.58 W/(m K) at 300 K).     

Low-temperature anisotropy of the thermal conductivity of single-crystal nanofilms and nanowires

The effect of phonon focusing on the phonon transport in single-crystal nanofilms and nanowires is studied in the boundary scattering regime. The dependences of the thermal conductivity and the free path of phonons on the geometric parameters of nanostructures with various elastic energy anisotropies are analyzed for diffuse phonon scattering by boundaries. It is shown that the anisotropies of thermal conductivity for nanostructures made of cubic crystals with positive (LiF, GaAs, Ge, Si, diamond, YAG) and negative (CaF₂, NaCl, YIG) anisotropies of the second-order elastic moduli are qualitatively different for both nanofilms and nanowires. The single-crystal film plane orientations and the heat flow directions that ensure the maximum or minimum thermal conductivity in a film plane are determined for the crystals of both types. The thermal conductivity of nanowires with a square cross section mainly depends on a heat flow direction, and the thermal conductivity of sufficiently wide nanofilms is substantially determined by a film plane orientation.     

Superprotonic conductivity in Cs5(HSO4)2(H2PO4)3 single crystal

The conductivity of cesium hydrosulfate-phosphate single crystals obtained for the first time has been studied. It has been shown that these single crystals undergo a phase transition to a state with superprotonic conductivity. It has been found that the state with high proton conductivity is retained during thermal cycling for a long time and has a quasi-reversible nature.     

Investigating the range of working temperatures of single-crystal piezoelectric elements based on crystals of the langasite family

The mechanical properties, thermophysical parameters, and thermal stabilities of the phase composition of crystals of the langasite family are studied. The results from examining the temperature dependences of the thermophysical parameters (thermal conductivity, thermal capacity, and thermal expansion coefficient), phase composition, and mechanical strength of crystals allows us to predict the operation of piezodevices based on crystals of the langasite family in the temperature range of 25–1000°С in high-temperature modern sensor acoustic and piezoelectric equipment.     

Thermal conductivity of bismuth tellurite

This paper reports on the results of investigations of the thermal conductivity along the three crystallographic directions in bismuth tellurite crystals. It is found that bismuth tellurite exhibits a low thermal conductivity inherent in glasses and disordered solid solutions. At temperatures below the Debye temperature, the thermal conductivity coefficients depend on the temperature as \(\sqrt T \), which is characteristic of disordered solid solutions. The temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of bismuth tellurite is calculated in the framework of the Debye model.     

Electric Charge and Heat Transfer in SnTe Single Crystal with Various Vacancy Concentration in Tin Sublattice

Russian Physics Journal - The paper explores the electrical conductivity, thermoelectric coefficient and thermal conductivity of SnTe crystals with the hyperstoichiometric tin content up to 1.0...     

On the role played by bending vibrations in heat transfer in layered crystals

The temperature dependences of the thermal conductivity of layered crystals (LCs) of graphite, boron nitride, gallium sulfide, etc., are analyzed. It is shown that the bending branch of vibrations typical of LCs determines the behavior of the thermal conductivity only in the region of its increase. The decrease in thermal conductivity upon heating cannot be explained by taking into account the bending vibrations only, and phonon-phonon interaction processes become effective only in the case of excitation of other branches in the acoustic spectrum.     

掺Nd锆石类激光晶体的Raman光谱研究

测量了Nd∶YVO4和Nd∶GdVO4两种激光晶体的高温拉曼光谱.根据空间群理论指认了测定的特征谱线,依据晶格动力学理论导出了晶体热导率与积分拉曼散射强度的关系.计算了不同方向的晶体热导率,得到了与实验符合的结果.把Nd∶GdVO4晶体的高热导率归因于授主离子的质量和半径的增大,以及由此导致的晶体场效应的显著增强. 关键词： Raman光谱 激光晶体 热导率 空间群     

Electrical conductivity in undoped and Mn2+-doped NaNO2 single crystals

Electrical conductivity studies in NaNO₂ single crystals with inherent impurities and also in crystals with added Mn²⁺ impurities have been reported. The heating conductivity runs of undoped and doped NaNO₂ crystals have been compared. The decrease in conductivity in cooling following a heating run has been attributed to the oxidation during heating leading to the bulk precipitation of impurities in the host. Above 170°C however the intrinsic defects are responsible for conduction. An anomaly is noticed in both the heating and cooling conductivity runs of the sample at about the Curie temperatures and has been found to show thermal hysteresis.     

Growth and characterization of pure and potassium iodide-doped zinc tris-thiourea sulphate (ZTS) single crystals

Single crystals of pure and potassium iodide (KI)-doped zinc tris-thiourea sulphate (ZTS) were grown from aqueous solutions by the slow evaporation method. The grown crystals were transparent. The lattice parameters of the grown crystals were determined by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. The grown crystals were also characterized by recording the powder X-ray diffraction pattern and by identifying the diffracting planes. The FT-IR spectrum was recorded in the range 400-4500 cm⁻¹. Second harmonic generation (SHG) was confirmed by the Kurtz powder method. The thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) studies reveal that the materials have good thermal stability. Atomic absorption studies confirm the presence of dopant in ZTS crystals. The electrical measurements were made in the frequency range 10²-10⁶ Hz and in the temperature range 40-130 °C along a-, b- and c-directions of the grown crystals. The present study shows that the electrical parameters viz. dc conductivity, dielectric constant, dielectric loss factor and ac conductivity increase with increase in temperature. Activation energy values were also determined for the ac conduction process in grown crystals. The dc conductivity, dielectric constant, dielectric loss factor and ac conductivity of KI-doped ZTS crystal were found to be more than those of pure ZTS crystals.     

Experimental and numerical study of the effect of conjugate heat transfer on film cooling

Combined convection heat transfer and thermal conduction for film cooling of a flat plate with 45° ribs on one wall was investigated experimentally and numerically. The flat plate surface temperature was measured using thermochromic liquid crystals. The results show that the film cooling is the main mechanism for the local cooling with a very low thermal conductivity while the convection heat transfer of the coolant in the coolant channel is the dominant heat transfer mechanism for the high thermal conductivity plate, with both film cooling and convection heat transfer by the coolant being important with medium thermal conductivity walls.     

Isotopic effect and conductivity mechanism of crystalline CsHSO4

The conductivity of CsHSO₄ and CsDSO₄ crystals was investigated. The conductivity of deuterated crystals was shown to be by two orders of magnitude lower than that of CsHSO₄. The phenomenon is treated in terms of tunneling mechanism for proton (or deuteron) mobility. The effect of thermal oscillations of the potential barrier was calculated to estimate the temperature dependence of proton tunneling.     

Phonon considerations in the reduction of thermal conductivity in phononic crystals

Periodic porous structures offer unique material solutions to thermoelectric applications. With recent interest in phonon band gap engineering, these periodic structures can result in reduction of the phonon thermal conductivity due to coherent destruction of phonon modes characteristic in phononic crystals. In this paper, we numerically study phonon transport in periodic porous silicon phononic crystal structures. We develop a model for the thermal conductivity of phononic crystal that accounts for both coherent and incoherent phonon effects, and show that the phonon thermal conductivity is reduced to less than 4% of the bulk value for Si at room temperature. This has substantial impact on thermoelectric applications, where the efficiency of thermoelectric materials is inversely proportional to the thermal conductivity.