Anderson Localization Quenches Thermal Transport in Aperiodic Superlattices

Abstract

We show that aperiodic superlattices exhibit intriguing interplay between phononic coherent wave interference effects and incoherent transport. In particular, broadband Anderson localization results in a drastic thermal conductivity reduction of 98% at room temperature, providing an ultralow value of 1.3 W m-1 K-1, and further yields an anomalously large thermal anisotropy ratio of ∼102 in aperiodic Si/Ge superlattices. A maximum in the thermal conductivity emerges as an unambiguous consequence of phonon Anderson localization at a system length scale bridging the extended and localized transport regimes. The frequency-resolved picture, combined with our lattice dynamical description of Anderson localization, elucidates the rich transport characteristics in these systems and the potential of correlated disorder for sub- to few-THz phononic engineering of heat transport in thermoelectric applications.