Strain dependence of thermal conductivity of 0001-oriented GaN nanowires

K Jung and M Cho and M Zhou, APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, 98, 041909 (2011).

DOI: 10.1063/1.3549691

The thermomechanical behavior of 0001-oriented GaN nanowires with 2.26 and 3.55 nm in diameter under tensile loading is analyzed using molecular dynamics simulations with the Green-Kubo method and quantum correction. A phase transformation from wurtzite to a tetragonal structure is observed. The thermal conductivity is found to decrease as the wires undergo tensile deformation and phase transformation, except for the smallest diameter and temperatures above 1495 K at which it remains largely constant as the axial strain increases. The different trends appear to result from phonon behavior changes primarily associated with the surface structures of the nanowires at the different conditions. (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3549691

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