JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
Phonon Transport in Isotope-Disordered Carbon and Boron-Nitride Nanotubes: Is Localization Observable?

Author
Savic, Ivana; Mingo, Natalio; Stewart, Derek
Abstract
We present an ab initio study which identifies dominant effects leading to thermal conductivity reductions in carbon and boron-nitride nanotubes with isotope disorder. Our analysis reveals that, contrary
to previous speculations, localization effects cannot be observed in the thermal conductivity measurements. Observable reduction of the thermal conductivity is mostly due to diffusive scattering. Multiple
scattering induced interference effects were found to be prominent for isotope concentrations > 10%; otherwise, the thermal conduction is mainly determined by independent scattering contributions of single isotopes. We give explicit predictions of the effect of isotope disorder on nanotube thermal conductivity that can be directly compared with experiments.
Date Issued
2008-10-13Publisher
American Physical Society
Subject
phonon; nanotube; carbon; boron nitride; localization; isotope; disorder; density functional theory; Green's function; thermal transport
Previously Published As
I. Savic, N. Mingo, D. A. Stewart, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 165502 (2008)
Type
article