Can the thermal conductivity of semiconductors be controlled by impurities?

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• Stefan K. Estreicher, Physics Department, Texas Tech University
• Friday 05 June 2009, 15:30-16:30
• TCM Seminar Room, Cavendish Laboratory.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Jonathan Keeling.

It is well known that the mechanical, electrical, optical, and even magnetic properties of semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures can be controlled almost at will by the use of carefully selected impurities. Can the thermal properties of these materials be controlled as well? In this talk, I will discuss a first-principles approach to the calculation of thermal conductivities in periodic supercells containing impurities. The early results indicate that, under specific conditions, the thermal conductivity of the material can be reduced by more than a factor of 30. Even though the theoretical and experimental issues are tricky, further studies of this problem might prove rewarding.

This talk is part of the TCM Informal Seminar Series series.

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