Modulation of Thermal Conductivity in Kinked Silicon Nanowires: Phonon Interchanging and Pinching Effects

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to show that kinks in silicon nanowires can reduce thermal conductivity by up to 70% through phonon interchanging and pinching effects, offering new ways to control heat transfer.

Contribution

It introduces the phonon interchanging and pinching effects as novel mechanisms for thermal conductivity reduction in kinked silicon nanowires.

Findings

Thermal conductivity reduced by up to 70% at room temperature.

Identified phonon interchanging and pinching effects as key mechanisms.

Potential application in thermoelectric materials.

Abstract

We perform molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the reduction of the thermal conductivity by kinks in silicon nanowires. The reduction percentage can be as high as 70% at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the reduction is also calculated. By calculating phonon polarization vectors, two mechanisms are found to be responsible for the reduced thermal conductivity: (1) the interchanging effect between the longitudinal and transverse phonon modes and (2) the pinching effect, i.e a new type of localization, for the twisting and transverse phonon modes in the kinked silicon nanowires. Our work demonstrates that the phonon interchanging and pinching effects, induced by kinking, are brand new and effective ways in modulating heat transfer in nanowires, which enables the kinked silicon nanowires to be a promising candidate for thermoelectric materials.