Temperature-dependence calculation of lattice thermal conductivity and related parameters for the zinc blende and wurtzite structures of InAs nanowires

Theoretical calculations are performed on lattice thermal conductivity (LTC) and related parameters for the zinc blende and wurtzite structure of InAs nanowires (NWs) with diameters of 50, 63, 66, 100 and 148 nm through the Morelli–Callaway model. For the model to be efficiently applicable, the longitudinal and transverse modes are considered. The melting point of the various-sized NWs is considered to estimate the Debye and phonon group velocities. The impacts of Gruneisen parameter, dislocations and surface roughness are also successfully utilized to address the calculated and measured LTC of the semiconductor under investigation. Results show that the Gruneisen parameter increases with decreasing NW diameter and that phonon confinement leads to an observable deviation of the calculated LTC curve from that of the experimental one in the case of bulk InAs. We assume that NW boundaries, dislocations and imperfections are responsible for the scattering of phonons along with electrons and other phonons because of normal and Umklapp processes. Therefore, at a specified temperature, LTC depends on the size and crystal structure of the semiconductor. As such, the thermal and mechanical parameters of InAs can be greatly modified by decreasing the size and dimension of the semiconductor as a result of the quantum-confinement effect.