Phonon thermal transport in InAs nanowires with different size and growth directions

We investigate the phonon thermal transport properties in InAs nanowires with different size and growth directions by using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics methods. The results show a remarkable anisotropy for the thermal conductivity in InAs nanowire. It is found that the thermal conductivity along [110] growth direction is about three times larger than that along [100] or [111] direction. With the increase of temperature, the thermal conductivity along [110] direction decreases significantly. However, the thermal conductivity along other two directions is not sensitive to temperature. Moreover, we find a crossover from ballistic to ballistic-diffusive thermal transport for a certain length of InAs nanowire. A brief physical analysis of these results is given. It is suggested that the anisotropy of thermal conductivity is common for nanowires with zinc blende structures. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.