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Thermal Conductivity Reduction of SiGe Nanocomposites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

T. Harris
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139–4307, U.S.A.
H. Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139–4307, U.S.A.
D. Z. Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02476, USA
J. Y. Huang
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02476, USA
Z. F. Ren
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02476, USA
B. Klotz
Affiliation:
Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005–5069, USA
R. Dowding
Affiliation:
Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005–5069, USA
M. S. Dresselhaus
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
G. Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139–4307, U.S.A.
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Abstract

High figure of merit has been reported in superlattice structures in recent years mainly due to a large reduction in thermal conductivity, while maintaining or even enhancing the power factor. These findings suggest the possibility of using nanocomposites to reduce a material's thermal conductivity and thereby increasing the thermoelectric figure of merit. The current work reports on the thermal conductivity of various Si-Ge nanocomposites synthesized in a simple and straightforward process that allows one to exploit nanoscale physics while rapidly producing macroscale devices. Composite synthesis consisted of combining Si nanoparticles approximately 70 nm in diameter with micron-sized Ge particles in various atomic ratios via hotpressing to form macroscale samples. Room-temperature thermal conductivity was measured for each of the nanocomposite samples and compared with the values of SiGe bulk alloys. In this preliminary work, we observed a significant reduction in bulk thermal conductivity in such materials.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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References

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