Thermal conductivity of AlxGa1−xN layers with and variable thicknesses is systematically studied by combined thermoreflectance measurements and a modified Callaway model. We find a reduction in the thermal conductivity of AlxGa1−xN by more than one order of magnitude compared to that of GaN, which indicates a strong effect of phonon-alloy scattering. It is shown that the short-mean free path phonons are strongly scattered, which leads to a major contribution of the long-mean free path phonons to the thermal conductivity. In thin layers, the long-mean free path phonons become efficiently scattered by the boundaries, resulting in a further decrease in the thermal conductivity. Also, an asymmetry of thermal conductivity as a function of Al content is experimentally observed and attributed to the mass difference between Ga and Al host atoms.
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21 December 2020
Research Article|
December 21 2020
Phonon-boundary scattering and thermal transport in AlxGa1−xN: Effect of layer thickness
Special Collection:
Ultrawide Bandgap Semiconductors
Dat Q. Tran
;
Dat Q. Tran
a)
1
Department of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
2
Center for III-Nitride Technology, C3NiT-Janzen, Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: dat.tran@liu.se
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Rosalia Delgado-Carrascon
;
Rosalia Delgado-Carrascon
1
Department of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
2
Center for III-Nitride Technology, C3NiT-Janzen, Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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John F. Muth;
John F. Muth
3
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NCSU
, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
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Tania Paskova
;
Tania Paskova
3
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NCSU
, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
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Muhammad Nawaz;
Muhammad Nawaz
2
Center for III-Nitride Technology, C3NiT-Janzen, Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
4
Hitachi ABB Power Grids, Power Grid Research
, Forskargränd 7, 721 78 Västerås, Sweden
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Vanya Darakchieva
;
Vanya Darakchieva
1
Department of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
2
Center for III-Nitride Technology, C3NiT-Janzen, Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
5
THz Materials Analysis Center (TheMAC), Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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Plamen P. Paskov
Plamen P. Paskov
1
Department of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
2
Center for III-Nitride Technology, C3NiT-Janzen, Linköping University
, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
3
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NCSU
, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: dat.tran@liu.se
Note: This paper is part of the Special Topic on Ultrawide Bandgap Semiconductors.
Appl. Phys. Lett. 117, 252102 (2020)
Article history
Received:
September 30 2020
Accepted:
December 08 2020
Connected Content
Citation
Dat Q. Tran, Rosalia Delgado-Carrascon, John F. Muth, Tania Paskova, Muhammad Nawaz, Vanya Darakchieva, Plamen P. Paskov; Phonon-boundary scattering and thermal transport in AlxGa1−xN: Effect of layer thickness. Appl. Phys. Lett. 21 December 2020; 117 (25): 252102. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0031404
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