Researchers tune thermal conductivity of materials ‘on the fly’ for more energy-efficient devices

Phys.org  June 8, 2923
A team of researchers in the US (University of Minnesota, University of Utah, Argonne National Laboratory) demonstrated the ability to continuously tune the thermal conductivity of nanoscale films of La0.5Sr0.5CoO3-δ (LSCO) by a factor of over 5, via a room-temperature electrolyte-gate-induced non-volatile topotactic phase transformation from perovskite to an oxygen-vacancy-ordered brownmillerite phase accompanied by a metal-insulator transition. Combining time-domain thermoreflectance and electronic transport measurements, model analyses based on molecular dynamics and Boltzmann transport equation, and structural characterization by X-ray diffraction, they uncovered and deconvolved the effects of these transitions on heat carriers, including electrons and lattice vibrations. According to the researchers the wide-range continuous tunability of LSCO thermal conductivity enabled by low-voltage (below 4 V) room-temperature electrolyte gating opens the door to non-volatile dynamic control of thermal transport in perovskite-based functional materials, for thermal regulation and management in device applications… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE

a) Sample configuration for TDTR measurements… Credit: Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 2626 (2023) 

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