Thermal conductivity of glasses and disordered crystals

TL;DR

This paper reviews 50 years of experimental and theoretical research on the unique thermal conductivity properties of glasses and disordered crystals, highlighting their low-temperature behaviors and underlying mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the historical development and key physical interpretations of heat transport in amorphous materials over the past five decades.

Findings

Disordered materials exhibit anomalously low thermal conductivity.

Presence of a thermal conductivity plateau at low temperatures.

Distinct microscopic mechanisms compared to crystalline solids.

Abstract

Among the many physical properties, the amorphous state manifests itself in the most spectacular way in heat transport. Anomalously low thermal conductivity, its low-temperature dependence as a function of temperature, the presence of a plateau of thermal conductivity, all are definitely different when compared with the ordered state of crystals. For this reason, the microscopic mechanisms from which these surprising behaviors may emerge have been the subject of intensive theoretical research and even more extensive experimental research. These investigations have led to the detection of a huge range of disordered materials with somewhat similar properties, which have become a rich base for various physical interpretations. In this chapter we present the last 50 years of the history of experimental research together with the key theoretical physics scenarios