Coherent Phonon Heat Conduction in Superlattices

The control of heat conduction through the manipulation of phonons as coherent waves in solids is of fundamental interest and could also be exploited in applications, but coherent heat conduction has not been experimentally confirmed. We report the experimental observation of coherent heat conduction through the use of finite-thickness superlattices with varying numbers of periods. The measured thermal conductivity increased linearly with increasing total superlattice thickness over a temperature range from 30 to 150 kelvin, which is consistent with a coherent phonon heat conduction process. First-principles and Green's function-based simulations further support this coherent transport model. Accessing the coherent heat conduction regime opens a new venue for phonon engineering for an array of applications.