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Tailoring thermal conductivity by engineering compositional gradients in Si1−x Ge x superlattices

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Abstract

The transport properties of artificially engineered superlattices (SLs) can be tailored by incorporating a high density of interfaces in them. Specifically, SiGe SLs with low thermal conductivity values have great potential for thermoelectric generation and nano-cooling of Si-based devices. Here, we present a novel approach for customizing thermal transport across nanostructures by fabricating Si/Si1−x Ge x SLs with well-defined compositional gradients across the SiGe layer from x = 0 to 0.60. We demonstrate that the spatial inhomogeneity of the structure has a remarkable effect on the heat-flow propagation, reducing the thermal conductivity to ∼2.2 W·m−1·K−1, which is significantly less than the values achieved previously with non-optimized long-period SLs. This approach offers further possibilities for future applications in thermoelectricity.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Biplab Paul

    Present address: Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grup de Nanomaterials i Microsistemes, Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

    Pablo Ferrando-Villalba, Aitor F. Lopeandía, Biplab Paul, Gemma Garcia & Javier Rodriguez-Viejo

  2. Grup de Física Estadística, Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

    Francesc Xavier Alvarez & Carla de Tomás

  3. Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

    Maria Isabel Alonso, Miquel Garriga & Alejandro R. Goñi

  4. ICREA, Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain

    Alejandro R. Goñi

  5. Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, ICN2-CSIC, Campus UAB, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

    Jose Santiso

Authors
  1. Pablo Ferrando-Villalba
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  2. Aitor F. Lopeandía
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  3. Francesc Xavier Alvarez
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  4. Biplab Paul
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  5. Carla de Tomás
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  6. Maria Isabel Alonso
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  7. Miquel Garriga
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  8. Alejandro R. Goñi
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  9. Jose Santiso
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  10. Gemma Garcia
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  11. Javier Rodriguez-Viejo
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Aitor F. Lopeandía, Francesc Xavier Alvarez or Javier Rodriguez-Viejo.

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Ferrando-Villalba, P., Lopeandía, A.F., Alvarez, F.X. et al. Tailoring thermal conductivity by engineering compositional gradients in Si1−x Ge x superlattices. Nano Res. 8, 2833–2841 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0788-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0788-9

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