Diameter dependence of SiGe nanowire thermal conductivity

Abstract

We theoretically compute the thermal conductivity of SiGe alloy nanowires as a function of nanowire diameter, alloy concentration, and temperature, obtaining a satisfactory quantitative agreement with experimental results. Our results account for the weaker diameter dependence of the thermal conductivity recently observed in Si1−xGex nanowires (x<0.1), as compared to pure Si nanowires. We also present calculations in the full range of alloy concentrations, 0≤x≤1, which may serve as a basis for comparison with future experiments on high alloy concentration nanowires.