Incoherent phonon transport dominates heat conduction across van der Waals superlattices

TL;DR

This study reveals that incoherent phonon transport, rather than coherent phonons, dominates heat conduction in van der Waals superlattices, even at atomic-scale periods, challenging traditional understanding.

Contribution

It demonstrates that incoherent phonon transport governs heat conduction in van der Waals superlattices regardless of superlattice period, highlighting a new dominant mechanism.

Findings

Heat conduction is dominated by interface scattering.

Incoherent phonon transport prevails even at atomic-scale periods.

Traditional coherent phonon dominance does not apply to van der Waals superlattices.

Abstract

Heat conduction mechanisms in superlattices could be different across different types of interfaces. Van der Waals superlattices are structures physically assembled through weak van der Waals interactions by design, and may host properties beyond the traditional limits of lattice matching and processing compatibility, offering new types of interfaces. In this work, natural van der Waals (SnS)1.17(NbS2)n superlattices are synthesized, and their thermal conductivities are measured by time-domain thermoreflectance as a function of interface density. Our results show that heat conduction of (SnS)1.17(NbS2)n superlattices is dominated by interface scattering when the coherent length of phonons is larger than the superlattice period, indicating incoherent phonon transport dominates cross-plane heat conduction in van der Waals superlattices even when the period is atomically thin and abrupt. Moreover, our result suggests that the widely accepted heat conduction mechanism for conventional superlattices that coherent phonons dominate when the period is short, is not applicable due to symmetry breaking in most van der Waals superlattices. Our findings provide new insight for understanding the thermal behavior of van der Waals superlattices, and devise approaches for effective thermal management of superlattices depending on the distinct types of interfaces.