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Is there a Lower Limit to the Thermal Conductivity of Solids?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

David G. Cahill  and
R. O. Pohl
R. O. Pohl
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Atomic & Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853-2501
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Abstract

The thermal conductivity of various systematically disordered crystals has been measured. It has been found that the lowest thermal conductivity above ∼100 K that can be achieved is equal to that of the amorphous phase. This experimentally observed lower limit of the thermal conductivity can be described with a model proposed by Einstein in which the elastic energy propagates in a random walk among the atoms which are vibrating with random phases, and which is called the minimum thermal conductivity. This heat transport mechanism resembles somewhat that commonly accepted in liquids.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 234: Symposium V – Modern Perspectives on Thermoelectrics and Related Materials , 1991 , 27
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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References

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