Effects of transverse geometry on the thermal conductivity of Si and Ge nanowires

Abstract

We explore the effects of geometry on the thermal conductivity (kappa) of silicon and germanium nanowires, with lengths between 10-120 nm and diameters up to 5-6 nm. To this end we perform molecular dynamics simulations with the LAMMPS software, using Tersoff interatomic potentials. We consider nanowires with polygonal cross section and we discuss the effect of the transverse geometry on the thermal conductivity. We also consider tubular (hollow) nanowires and core/shell combinations of Si/Ge and Ge/Si, and we compare the heat transport of the core/shell structure with that of the separated core and shell components.