Crossover from incoherent to coherent phonon scattering in epitaxial oxide superlattices

Jayakanth Ravichandran; Ajay K Yadav; Ramez Cheaito; Pim B Rossen; Arsen Soukiassian; S J Suresha; John C Duda; Brian M Foley; Che-Hui Lee; Ye Zhu; Arthur W Lichtenberger; Joel E Moore; David A Muller; Darrell G Schlom; Patrick E Hopkins; Arun Majumdar; Ramamoorthy Ramesh; Mark A Zurbuchen

doi:10.1038/nmat3826

Crossover from incoherent to coherent phonon scattering in epitaxial oxide superlattices

Nat Mater. 2014 Feb;13(2):168-72. doi: 10.1038/nmat3826. Epub 2013 Dec 8.

Authors

Jayakanth Ravichandran¹, Ajay K Yadav², Ramez Cheaito³, Pim B Rossen⁴, Arsen Soukiassian⁵, S J Suresha⁶, John C Duda⁷, Brian M Foley⁷, Che-Hui Lee⁵, Ye Zhu⁸, Arthur W Lichtenberger⁹, Joel E Moore¹⁰, David A Muller¹¹, Darrell G Schlom¹², Patrick E Hopkins⁷, Arun Majumdar¹³, Ramamoorthy Ramesh¹⁴, Mark A Zurbuchen¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ 1] Applied Science and Technology Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [2] Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [3] [4].
² 1] Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [2] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [3].
³ 1] Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA [2].
⁴ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
⁵ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
⁶ Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
⁷ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA.
⁸ School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
⁹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA.
¹⁰ 1] Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [2] Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
¹¹ 1] School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA [2] Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
¹² 1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA [2] Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
¹³ ARPA-E, US Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, Washington DC 20585, USA.
¹⁴ 1] Applied Science and Technology Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [2] Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [3] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [4] Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [5] Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA.
¹⁵ 1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA [2] Western Institute of Nanoelectronics, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA [3] California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.

PMID: 24317186
DOI: 10.1038/nmat3826

Abstract

Elementary particles such as electrons or photons are frequent subjects of wave-nature-driven investigations, unlike collective excitations such as phonons. The demonstration of wave-particle crossover, in terms of macroscopic properties, is crucial to the understanding and application of the wave behaviour of matter. We present an unambiguous demonstration of the theoretically predicted crossover from diffuse (particle-like) to specular (wave-like) phonon scattering in epitaxial oxide superlattices, manifested by a minimum in lattice thermal conductivity as a function of interface density. We do so by synthesizing superlattices of electrically insulating perovskite oxides and systematically varying the interface density, with unit-cell precision, using two different epitaxial-growth techniques. These observations open up opportunities for studies on the wave nature of phonons, particularly phonon interference effects, using oxide superlattices as model systems, with extensive applications in thermoelectrics and thermal management.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Calcium Compounds / chemistry*
Computer Simulation
Crystallization
Materials Testing
Models, Chemical*
Oxides / chemistry*
Scattering, Radiation
Thermal Conductivity
Titanium / chemistry*

Substances

Calcium Compounds
Oxides
perovskite
Titanium

Grants and funding

1S10RR23057/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States