Phonon Transport in GaAs and InAs Twinning Superlattices

K Lopez-Guell and N Forrer and X Cartoixa and I Zardo and R Rurali, JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C (2022).

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c04859

Crystal phase engineering gives access to new types of periodic nanostructures, such as the so-called twinning superlattices, where the motif of the superlattice is determined by a periodic rotation of the crystal . Here, by means of atomistic nonequilibr i u m molecul a r dynamics calculations, we study to what extent these periodic systems can be used to alter phonon transport in a controlled way, simila r to what has been predicted and observed in conventional superlattices based on heterointerfaces. We focus on twinning superlattices in GaAs and I n A s and highlight the existence of two different transport regimes: in one, each interface behaves like an independent scatterer; in the other, a segment with a sufficiently large number of closely spaced interfaces is seen by propagating phonons as a metamaterial with its own thermal properties. In this second scenario, we distinguish the case where the phonon mean free path is smaller or larger t h a n the superlattice segment, pointing out a different dependence of the thermal resistance with the number of interfaces.

Return to Publications page