Lattice thermal conductivity of a silicon nanowire under surface stress

The effects of surface stress on the lattice thermal conductivity are investigated for a silicon nanowire. A phonon dispersion relation is derived based on a continuum approach for a nanowire under surface stress. The phonon Boltzmann equation and the relaxation time are employed to calculate the lattice thermal conductivity. Surface stress, which has a significant influence on the phonon dispersion and thus the Debye temperature, decreases the lattice thermal conductivity. The conductivity varies with changing surface stress, e. g., due to adsorption layers and material coatings. This suggests a phonon engineering approach to tune the conductivity of nanomaterials. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3583668]