Collaborative Paper Published: Thermal Conductivity Suppression by Nanoinclusions with Mass Contrast and Structural Disorder

Summary

In this study, we investigated the mechanisms by which nanoinclusions embedded in crystalline silicon reduce thermal conductivity using molecular dynamics simulations and the atomistic Green’s function method. We found that both mass contrast introduced by germanium nanoinclusions and structural disorder introduced by amorphous silicon nanoinclusions significantly suppress thermal conductivity. Furthermore, despite their different physical origins, both types of nanoinclusions were shown to behave similarly at the nanoscale as obstacles that block the direct propagation of phonons. These findings provide insight into the limits and design principles of thermal conductivity suppression by nanoinclusions and are expected to contribute to the development of thermoelectric and thermal management materials. This work was carried out in collaboration with the group of Associate Professor Hori at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.