On the upper limit of thermal conductivity GaN crystals

Abstract

The maximal value of thermal conductivity \kappa_{max} of the perfect wurzite GaN crystal containing isotopes of natural abundance is estimated. Our upper limit of \kappa=4800 W/Km at T_{max}=32 K is smaller than calculated by Liu and Balandin \kappa=6000 W/Km and higher than obtained by Slack et al \kappa=3750 W/Km. The phenomenological dependence \kappa \propto T^{-1.43} obtained by Mion et al for the temperature interval 300-450 K is extended to 200-300K. For temperatures higher than T_max the best fitting of our experimental data to Callaway's formula is obtained for Grueneisen's constant equal to \gamma = 1.35.