Thermal conductivity of silicon nanowires embedded on thermoelectric platforms

Abstract

In this study, we propose a simple method for obtaining the thermal conductivity of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) embedded on a thermoelectric platform. The approximation of the heat flux in SiNWs with temperature differences enables the determination of thermal conductivity. Using this method, the thermal conductivities of our n- and p-type SiNWs are found to be 18.06 +/- 0.12 and 20.29 +/- 0.77 W m(-1).K-1, respectively. The atomic weight of arsenic ions in the n-type SiNWs is responsible for a lower thermal conductivity than that of boron ions in the p-type SiNWs. Our results demonstrate that this simple method is capable of measuring the thermal conductivity of thermoelectric nanomaterials embedded on thermoelectric devices.