Thermal transport along Bi2Te3 topological insulator nanowires

Abstract

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the thermal conductivity and local heat flux distribution of Bi2Te3 nanowires. It is found that at room temperature, the converged length-independent thermal conductivity of Bi2Te3 nanowires is only 0.89 W/m K, which is about 2-fold lower than their bulk counterpart. Interestingly, the local heat flux density along the quintet boundary layer is only about 18% of that along the central layers due to different phonon edge scattering intensities. Our work demonstrates that topological insulator nanostructures are promising candidates for the development of high-performance thermoelectric devices for applications in nanoscale energy generation and temperature management.