Topological Phononic Crystal on the Scale of Quasi-Ballistic Phonon Transport

Abstract: Phonon engineering technology has opened up the functional thermal management of semiconductor-based classical and quantum electronics at the micro- and nanoscales. However, challenges have remained in designing accurate thermal characteristics based on quasi-ballistic phonon transport. The quasi-ballistic thermal transport arises from the combination of wave-like and diffusive phonon behaviors unlike pure diffusion. The topological nature has been known to be compatible with both wave and diffusive phenomena. Therefore, topological phononic crystals have great potential for the development of controllable and designable thermal transport based on quasi-ballistic phonons. In this study, we experimentally investigated the thermal behavior at the scale of quasi-ballistic phonon transport using a 1D Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model-based topological phononic crystal. Quasi-ballistic phonon transport was observed through change in thermal conductivity depending on the structural parameters of topological systems using micro-thermoreflectance. Furthermore, using topological interface states, the experimentally observed thermal behaviors were found to agree well with the theoretically expected those. Accordingly, the topological nature is an effective approach for thermal management in micro- and nanoscale systems with quasi-ballistic phonon transport. Our results pave the way for a unified control scheme for wave and diffusion phenomena, such as quasi-ballistic phonons.