@article{31231, author = {A L Moore and S K Saha and Ravi S Prasher and L Shi}, title = {Phonon backscattering and thermal conductivity suppression in sawtooth nanowires}, abstract = {

The effect of surface roughness on phonon transport in a nanowire has often been described by treating the surface as flat with a specularity parameter $(p)$ in the range between 0 and 1. A lower thermal conductivity limit is approached at $p = 0$ for diffuse surface. It is demonstrated here by Monte Carlo simulation that sawtooth roughness on a nanowire can cause phonon backscattering and suppress the thermal conductivity below the diffuse surface limit. The backscattering effect can be accounted for only by a negative $p$ if the detail of the surface roughness is ignored.

}, year = {2008}, journal = {Appl. Phys. Lett.}, month = {08/2008}, publisher = {aip.scitation.org}, doi = {10.1063/1.2970044}, language = {eng}, }