No abstract

We directly observe phonon wave packets of well-defined frequency and polarization scattering at a coherent semiconductor interface using molecular-dynamics simulations. We find that in the low-frequency limit the transmission coefficients of both longitudinal and transverse acoustic phonons agree well with those predicted by the continuum-level based acoustic mismatch model. However, the transmission coefficients rapidly decrease close to the cutoff frequency, a result that can be understood within a simple one-dimensional discrete atomic-chain model. We also find that the transmission coefficient for transverse acoustic phonons depends strongly on the relative orientation of the polarization and the Si–Si bonds in the diamond lattice structure.

We use a nonequilibrium molecular-dynamics method to compute the Kapitza resistance of three twist grain boundaries in silicon, which we find to increase significantly with increasing grain boundary energy, i.e., with increasing structural disorder at the grain boundary. The origin of this Kapitza resistance is analyzed directly by studying the scattering of packets of lattice vibrations of well-defined polarization and frequency from the grain boundaries. We find that scattering depends strongly on the wavelength of the incident wave packet. In the case of a high-energy grain boundary, the scattering approaches the prediction of the diffuse mismatch theory at high frequencies, i.e., as the wavelength becomes comparable to the lattice parameter of the bulk crystal. We discuss the implications of our results in terms of developing a general model of scattering probabilities that can be applied to mesoscale models of heat transport in polycrystalline systems.