Engineering the thermal conductivity along an individual silicon nanowire by selective helium ion irradiation

Yunshan Zhao, Dan Liu, Jie Chen, Liyan Zhu, Alex Belianinov, Olga S. Ovchinnikova, Raymond R. Unocic, Matthew J. Burch, Songkil Kim, Hanfang Hao, Daniel S. Pickard, Baowen Li () and John T. L. Thong ()
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Yunshan Zhao: National University of Singapore
Dan Liu: National University of Singapore
Jie Chen: Center for Phononics and Thermal Energy Science, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University
Liyan Zhu: School of Physics and Electronic & Electrical Engineering, Huaiyin Normal University
Alex Belianinov: Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Olga S. Ovchinnikova: Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Raymond R. Unocic: Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Matthew J. Burch: Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Songkil Kim: Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Hanfang Hao: National University of Singapore
Daniel S. Pickard: National University of Singapore
Baowen Li: University of Colorado
John T. L. Thong: National University of Singapore

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The ability to engineer the thermal conductivity of materials allows us to control the flow of heat and derive novel functionalities such as thermal rectification, thermal switching and thermal cloaking. While this could be achieved by making use of composites and metamaterials at bulk length-scales, engineering the thermal conductivity at micro- and nano-scale dimensions is considerably more challenging. In this work, we show that the local thermal conductivity along a single Si nanowire can be tuned to a desired value (between crystalline and amorphous limits) with high spatial resolution through selective helium ion irradiation with a well-controlled dose. The underlying mechanism is understood through molecular dynamics simulations and quantitative phonon-defect scattering rate analysis, where the behaviour of thermal conductivity with dose is attributed to the accumulation and agglomeration of scattering centres at lower doses. Beyond a threshold dose, a crystalline-amorphous transition was observed.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15919

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