We have investigated the anisotropic thermal expansion of graphite using ab-initio calculation of lattice dynamics and anharmonicity of the phonons, which reveal that the negative thermal expansion (NTE) in the a-b plane below 600 K and very large positive thermal expansion along the c-axis up to high temperatures arise due to various phonons polarized along the c-axis. While the NTE arises from the anharmonicity of transverse phonons over a broad energy range up to 60 meV, the large positive expansion along the c-axis occurs largely due to the longitudinal optic phonon modes around 16 meV and a large linear compressibility along the c-axis. The hugely anisotropic bonding in graphite is found to be responsible for wide difference in the energy range of the transverse and longitudinal phonon modes polarized along the c-axis, which are responsible for the anomalous thermal expansion behavior. This behaviour is in contrast to other nearly isotropic hexagonal structures like water-ice, which show anomalous thermal expansion in a small temperature range arising from a narrow energy range of phonons.
We calculate the lattice dielectric function of strongly anharmonic rutile $\mathrm{TiO}_2$ from ab initio anharmonic lattice dynamics methods. Since an accurate calculation of the $Γ$ point phonons is essential for determining optical properties, we employ the modified self-consistent approach, including third-order anharmonicity as well as fourth-order anharmonicity. The resulting optical phonon frequencies and linewidths at the $Γ$ point much better agree with experimental measurements than those from a perturbative approach. We show that the four-phonon scattering process contributes as mu…
We formulate a theory of thermal expansion based on the self-consistent phonon (SCP) theory, which nonperturbatively considers the anharmonic effect. We show that the Grünseisen formula holds within the SCP theory by replacing the phonon frequency by the SCP frequency. By comparing it with the quasiharmonic approximation (QHA), we derive explicit formulas of the correction to the QHA result. We show that the phonon anharmonicity gives a small correction of $O(\langle{\hat{U}_4\rangle}/\langle{\hat{U}_2\rangle})$ to the thermal expansion coefficient $α$, where $\hat{U}_2$ and $\hat{U}_4$ are th…
Anharmonic lattice vibrations govern the thermal dynamics in materials and present how the atoms interact and how they conduct heat. An indepth understanding of the microscopic mechanism of phonon anharmonicity in condensed systems is critical for developing better functional and energy materials. In recent years, a variety of novel behaviors in condense matters are driven by phonon anharmonic effects in some way or another, such as soft mode phase transition, negative thermal expansion, multiferroicity, ultralow thermal conductivity or high thermal resistance, and high-temperature superconduc…
First-principles calculations of phonon frequencies, lifetimes and spectral functions from weak to strong anharmonicity: the example of palladium hydrides
Knowledge of lattice anharmonicity is essential to elucidate distinctive thermal properties in crystalline solids. Yet, accurate \textit{ab initio} investigations of lattice anharmonicity encounter difficulties owing to the cumbersome computations. Here we introduce the phonon quasiparticle approach and review its application to various materials. This method efficiently and reliably addresses lattice anharmonicity by combining \textit{ab initio} molecular dynamics and lattice dynamics calculations. Thus, in principle, it accounts for full anharmonic effects and overcomes finite-size effects t…
Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials have extraordinary thermal properties due to the effect of quantum confinement, making them promising for thermoelectric energy conversion and thermal management in microelectronic devices. In this review, the mechanism of phonon anharmonicity originating from three- and four-phonon interactions is derived. The phonon anharmonicity of 2D vdW materials, involving the Grüneisen parameter, phonon lifetime, and thermal conductivity, is summarized and derived in detail. The size-dependent thermal conductivity of representative 2D vdW materials is d…
Opposite impact of thermal expansion and phonon anharmonicity on the phonon-limited resistivity of elemental metals from first principles
European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility, Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences, Université catholique de Louvain（欧洲理论光谱设施，凝聚态物质与纳米科学研究所，天主教鲁汶大学）；Scientific Computing Department, Science and Technology Facilities Council, UK Research and Innovation, Daresbury Laboratory（科学与工程设施理事会英国研究与创新达尔斯伯里实验室科学计算部）；Département de Physique et Institut Courtois, Université de Montréal（蒙特利尔大学物理系与库瓦托瓦研究所）；Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science, Weizmann Institute of Science（魏茨曼科学研究所分子化学与材料科学系）；WEL Research Institute（WEL研究所）
Understanding and predicting lattice dynamics in strongly anharmonic crystals is one of the long-standing challenges in condensed matter physics. Here we propose a first-principles method that gives accurate quasiparticle (QP) peaks of the phonon spectrum with strong anharmonic broadening. On top of the conventional first-order self-consistent phonon (SC1) dynamical matrix, the proposed method incorporates frequency renormalization effects by the bubble self-energy within the QP approximation. We apply the developed methodology to the strongly anharmonic $α$-CsPbBr$_3$ that displays phonon ins…
A quantum Langevin model, similar to models used recently for optomechanics, was used to predict intermodulation phonon sidebands (IPS). Ab initio calculations of anharmonic phonons in rocksalt NaBr showed these spectral features as "many-body effects". Modern inelastic neutron scattering measurements on a crystal of NaBr at 300K revealed diffuse intensity at high phonon energy from a predicted upper IPS. The transverse optical (TO) part of the new features originates from phonon intermodulation between the transverse acoustic (TA) and TO phonons. The longitudinal optical (LO) spectral feature…
Anharmonic phonon-phonon scattering serves a critical role in heat conduction in solids. Previous studies have identified many selection rules for possible phonon-phonon scattering channels imposed by phonon energy and momentum conservation conditions and crystal symmetry. However, the crystal-symmetry-based selection rules have mostly been \textit{ad hoc} so far in selected materials, and a general formalism that can summarize known selection rules and lead to new ones in any given crystal is still lacking. In this work, we apply a general formalism for symmetry-based scattering selection rul…
Anharmonic phonon coupling enabled by local inversion symmetry breaking at domain walls in ferroelastic
University of Bern（伯尔尼大学）；Sapienza University of Rome（罗马大学）；Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche CNR-SPIN（意大利国家研究委员会 SPIN 研究所）；ETH Zurich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；University of Zurich（苏黎世大学）；Université Paris Cité（巴黎西岱大学）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (UMR 7504)（斯特拉斯堡材料物理与化学研究所）
We present an $\textit{ab initio}$ study of the thermodynamic properties of cubic CaSiO$_3$ perovskite (CaPv) over the pressure and temperature range of the Earth's lower mantle. We compute the anharmonic phonon dispersions throughout the Brillouin zone by utilizing the phonon quasiparticle approach, which characterizes the intrinsic temperature dependence of phonon frequencies and, in principle, captures full anharmonicity. Such temperature-dependent phonon dispersions are used to calculate $\textit{ab initio}$ free energy in the thermodynamic limit ($N \rightarrow \infty$) within the framewo…
Graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) with the geometrical anisotropy and strong electron-phonon coupling are in full swing and have shown their great potential for applications in nanodevices. I selected representative three elements in actinide group with valence electron arrangement: Thorium (Th) ([Rn]6d27s2), Uranium (U) ([Rn]5f36d17s2), Plutonium (Pu) ([Rn]5f67s2). I calculated their phonon spectra and demonstrated the atomic-scale microstructure identification of actinide graphite intercalation compounds by angle-resolved polarized Raman spectroscopy.
Determination of acoustic phonon anharmonicities via second-order Raman scattering in CuI
Universität Leipzig（莱比锡大学）；Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena（耶拿弗里德里希·席勒大学）；Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing（联邦材料研究与测试研究所）；Ruhr University Bochum（波鸿鲁尔大学）
Anharmonic free energies and phonon dispersions from the stochastic self-consistent harmonic approximation: application to platinum and palladium hydrides
Materials with ultralow thermal conductivity are of great interest for efficient energy conversion and thermal barrier coating. Copper-based semiconductors such as copper chalcogenides and copper halides are known to possess extreme low thermal conductivity, whereas the fundamental origin of the low thermal conductivity observed in the copper-based materials remains elusive. Here, we reveal that s-d coupling induced giant phonon anharmonicity is the fundamental mechanism responsible for the ultralow thermal conductivity of copper compounds. The symmetry controlled strong coupling of high-lying…
SrTiO$_3$ has been extensively investigated owing to its abundant degrees of freedom for modulation. However, the microscopic mechanism of thermal transport especially the relationship between phonon scattering and lattice distortion during the phase transition are missing and unclear. Based on deep-potential molecular dynamics and self-consistent \textit{ab initio} lattice dynamics, we explore the lattice anharmonicity-induced tetragonal-to-cubic phase transition and explain this anomalous behavior during the phase transition. Our results indicate the significant role of the renormalization o…
Recent theories and experiments have suggested hydrodynamic phonon transport features in graphite at unusually high temperatures. Here, we report a pico-second pump-probe thermal reflectance measurement of heat pulse propagation in graphite. The measurement results reveal transient lattice cooling near the adiabatic center of a 15 $μ$m diameter ring-shape pump beam at temperatures between 80 and 120 K. While such lattice cooling has not been reported in recent diffraction measurements of second sound in graphite, the observation here is consistent with both hydrodynamic phonon transport theory…
