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Analytic study of electrical, thermal and thermoelectric properties of ultra-thin \( \mathrm{In}_{{ x}}\mathrm{Ga}_{{ 1-x}}\mathrm{N} \) nanowires

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Abstract

The doping density, temperature, wire thickness, indium content, and surface roughness effects on electronic, thermal, and thermoelectric transport coefficients of ultra-thin InGaN/GaN nanowires are investigated by applying the analytic procedure to polar semiconductors where piezoelectric effect and polar optical phonon scatterings also play significant roles. We calculate the low-field electron mobility, electronic Seebeck coefficient, and lattice thermal conductivity based on relaxation time approximation within linear response theory and Boltzmann transport equation. The dispersion of longitudinal acoustic phonons and the corresponding group velocities in \( \mathrm{In}_{x}\mathrm{Ga}_{1-x}\mathrm{N} \) nanowires are determined by applying the xyz-algorithm. The highest room temperature \( \mathrm{ZT} = 0.25 \) is achieved for 4-nm-thick nanowire that is an order of magnitude larger than the bulk ZT value of 0.02 and the ZT value of the same \( \mathrm{In}_{0.1}\mathrm{Ga}_{0.9}\mathrm{N} \) nanowire at \(T = 800 \, \mathrm{K} \) reaches a magnitude of 0.55. The effect of nanostructuring is found to be more pronounced than alloying.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are not publicly available due to the large number of written codes, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. This manuscript has associated data in a data repository. [Authors’ comment: The codes may be provided upon reasonable request sent to mousavisoulmaz@gmail.com.]

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, School of Science, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 71946, Iran

    S. Mousavi, S. Davatolhagh & M. Moradi

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  1. S. Mousavi
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  2. S. Davatolhagh
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  3. M. Moradi
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All the authors have made a substantial contribution to the preparation of this manuscript. They have read and approved the final version of it.

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Correspondence to S. Davatolhagh.

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Mousavi, S., Davatolhagh, S. & Moradi, M. Analytic study of electrical, thermal and thermoelectric properties of ultra-thin \( \mathrm{In}_{{ x}}\mathrm{Ga}_{{ 1-x}}\mathrm{N} \) nanowires. Eur. Phys. J. B 95, 160 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/s10051-022-00408-8

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