Ultralow thermal conductivity from transverse acoustic phonon suppression in distorted crystalline α-MgAgSb

Xiyang Li, Peng-Fei Liu, Enyue Zhao, Zhigang Zhang, Tatiana Guidi, Manh Duc Le, Maxim Avdeev, Kazutaka Ikeda, Toshiya Otomo, Maiko Kofu, Kenji Nakajima, Jie Chen, Lunhua He, Yang Ren, Xun-Li Wang, Bao-Tian Wang (), Zhifeng Ren (), Huaizhou Zhao () and Fangwei Wang ()
Additional contact information
Xiyang Li: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peng-Fei Liu: Spallation Neutron Source Science Center
Enyue Zhao: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhigang Zhang: Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory
Tatiana Guidi: ISIS facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton
Manh Duc Le: ISIS facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton
Maxim Avdeev: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
Kazutaka Ikeda: Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba
Toshiya Otomo: Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba
Maiko Kofu: Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai
Kenji Nakajima: Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai
Jie Chen: Spallation Neutron Source Science Center
Lunhua He: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yang Ren: X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory
Xun-Li Wang: City University of Hong Kong
Bao-Tian Wang: Spallation Neutron Source Science Center
Zhifeng Ren: University of Houston
Huaizhou Zhao: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Fangwei Wang: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Low thermal conductivity is favorable for preserving the temperature gradient between the two ends of a thermoelectric material, in order to ensure continuous electron current generation. In high-performance thermoelectric materials, there are two main low thermal conductivity mechanisms: the phonon anharmonic in PbTe and SnSe, and phonon scattering resulting from the dynamic disorder in AgCrSe2 and CuCrSe2, which have been successfully revealed by inelastic neutron scattering. Using neutron scattering and ab initio calculations, we report here a mechanism of static local structure distortion combined with phonon-anharmonic-induced ultralow lattice thermal conductivity in α-MgAgSb. Since the transverse acoustic phonons are almost fully scattered by the compound’s intrinsic distorted rocksalt sublattice, the heat is mainly transported by the longitudinal acoustic phonons. The ultralow thermal conductivity in α-MgAgSb is attributed to its atomic dynamics being altered by the structure distortion, which presents a possible microscopic route to enhance the performance of similar thermoelectric materials.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14772-5

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