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Materials with very low thermal conductivity are of high interest for both thermoelectric and optical phase-change applications. Synthetic nanostructuring is most promising to suppress thermal conductivity by scattering phonons, but challenges remain in producing bulk samples. We show that in crystalline AgSbTe$_2$, a spontaneously-forming nanostructure leads to a suppression of thermal conductivity to a glass-like level. Our mapping of the phonon mean-free-paths provides a novel bottom-up microscopic account of thermal conductivity, and also reveals intrinsic anisotropies associated with the nanostructure. Ground-state degeneracy in AgSbTe$_2$ leads to the natural formation of nanoscale domains with different orderings on the cation sublattice, and correlated atomic displacements, which efficiently scatter phonons. This mechanism is general and points to a new avenue in nano-scale engineering of materials, to achieve low thermal conductivities for efficient thermoelectric converters and phase-change memory devices.
Understanding the mechanisms of thermal conduction in graphene is a long-lasting research topic, due to its high thermal conductivity. Peierls-Boltzmann transport equation (PBTE) based studies have revealed many unique phonon transport properties in
Goldstone modes are massless particles resulting from spontaneous symmetry breaking. Although such modes are found in elementary particle physics as well as in condensed matter systems like superfluid helium, superconductors and magnons - structural
Atomically thin layer transition metal dichalcogenides have been intensively investigated for their rich optical properties and potential applications in nano-electronics. In this work, we study the incoherent optical phonon and exciton population dy
Crystalline solids are generally known as excellent heat conductors, amorphous materials or glasses as thermal insulators. It has thus come as a surprise that certain crystal structures defy this paradigm. A prominent example are type-I clathrates an
Understanding the microscopic processes affecting the bulk thermal conductivity is crucial to develop more efficient thermoelectric materials. PbTe is currently one of the leading thermoelectric materials, largely thanks to its low thermal conductivi